Leeds United made a decision this week which means a youngster will now be key this season

However, an impressive summer under Daniel Farke gave him the opportunity to start as first choice on the opening day against Cardiff City and he hasn’t looked back since.

Gray made over 50 appearances in all competitions for Leeds in his debut campaign, the majority of which came from the start.

Leeds will be praying they can keep hold of him despite interest from elsewhere this summer as there really aren’t many young talents who make the move look as easy as he does.

Leeds have just made a big decision regarding Mateo Joseph

Leeds had one of the youngest squads in the Championship last season, but it was only Gray among the regular starters who was new to the first-team set-up.

Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Willy Gnonto and Ethan Ampadu started last season as under-22s but had already played plenty of senior football, either at Leeds or elsewhere.

Along with Gray, Mateo Joseph was the only true youngster on the block under Farke, but he didn’t play nearly as many minutes.

In fact, his only two starts came in the FA Cup despite consistently making big impacts from the bench, including a crucial late equalizer at Watford at Easter.

Joseph had to really work for his chance last season after suffering an injury on the eve of the new season almost a year ago, which caused him to miss the first few weeks.

And, in fact, there was a chance that he would be missing at the start of this campaign as well, as Spain wanted to represent them at this summer’s upcoming Olympics, which are set to take place between July 24 and August 9.

However, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds have prevented Joseph from going on to represent his country, which they are entitled to do.

This is because the Olympics take place outside of an official window for international football and therefore under FIFA rules state clubs are not required to release their players for the tournament.

Joseph’s decision at the Leeds Olympics is an indication of his role this season

Whether at the World Cup or the Olympics, representing your country is the highest honor for any player and as such Joseph will no doubt feel a tinge of disappointment.

For example, perhaps Neymar’s greatest achievement in a Brazil shirt was when he helped his country win gold in Rio at the 2016 games.

However, what this decision from Leeds shows is that they are definitely counting on Joseph to be a much more prominent figure this season.

Despite huge calls for him to start towards the end of the last campaign, Farke weathered the need by persevering with both Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe ahead of him.

A new season should bring a fresh start though, and Joseph’s performances mean he deserves the opportunity to start in August as first choice.

Having snubbed his chance to go to the Olympics, Joseph will now have a full pre-season to stake his claim at Leeds, which he wouldn’t have had otherwise.

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