Leeds today announced the signing of seven youngsters on scholarship terms, with them being promoted from the under 16 squad. The lucky seven were Isaac Asseno, Liam Bennett, Piteu Chydrick, Lewis Cook, Tom lyman, Munya Mbanje, and Euan Mulhern. They can all look forward to a season or two at Leeds before joining their heroes at Carrow Road. We look at what scarce details there are surrounding these players and try and piece together what the future holds for them.
First up is Lewis Cook, whose name is easily the most recognisable out of the bunch of players. Cook has represented the England under 16 and has been selected to play in the end of season tournament where they will play alongside teams as varied as Japan and Chile alongside the traditional European powerhouses of France and the Netherlands. In terms of his Leeds career, he has played twelve times this season despite only being an under 16. His most notable achievement to date in a white shirt was the goal he scored in the 3-1 defeat by Liverpool, which was a very well taken goal.
Neil Redfearn had this to say about Cook,
Neil Redfearn had this to say about Cook,
"Lewis will join us a scholar in the summer and we've done well to keep hold of him," said Under-18s coach Richard Naylor.
"Young lads who have played for England at a young age can often be offered all sorts, but as we've seen before that isn't always the right thing to do.
"Lewis has stayed here, he has worked hard on his game and he is getting his rewards."
The next player on the list which information is readily available for is Munyaridze Mbanje. A striker who has played a handful of games for the under 18s this season, he originally hails from Zimbabwe and is being hailed as the next big thing over there. At only 15, he seems to be incredibly over hyped, but when your national football hero is Benjani, then you take anything you can get. He burst into Leeds fans knowledge, when during a slow January transfer window, NewsNow had a story announcing the signing of a young Zimbabwean protege signing for United. If you clicked on any of the links, you were in for a treat, as Mbanje's agent wrote possibly the most over exaggerated article I have ever seen. It is in full below (taken from various reports in 'the Herald'.
On Tuesday September 20 at Thorpe Arch, young Zimbabwe-born player Munyaradzi Mbanje scored a gem of a goal as he volleyed an unstoppable shot from about 35 yards.
It was a goal that oozed all the qualities, talent, imagination and sublime skills of a would-be great football player.
That goal alone sent the whole of Leeds United Football Club Academy into nostalgia, rekindling memories of the once great Leeds United when they reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Champions League.
Everybody started talking about one of the greatest goals ever at Elland Road when Leeds played against Liverpool in the '90s when Ghanaian striker Tony Yeboah blasted a volley from about 35 yards out.
It's a goal that was being compared by all the mesmerised Leeds United members who saw that goal a reminder of the true silky skills of Munyaradzi Mbanje, a Zimbabwean youth aged 15 who was having his first trial game against Middlesborough Under-16.
Leeds United were trailing by a single goal before half-time and they were outplayed during the first 45 minutes and everything looked gloomy until the emergence of Munya as a second half substitute.
His first touch was superb, oozing so much confidence. In less than five minutes the game started to shift from Middlesborough, their midfield was on the retreat as the new Joel "Jubilee" Shambo or Jay Jay Okocha showed some incisive passing and deft touches.
Inside 10 minutes, a cleared ball from Middlesborough's own half found its way into Munya's path and he just blasted a volley with so much power and accuracy that almost everyone watching the game applauded in approval.
Suddenly, I had people around me and Munya's dad asking about all his abilities. They were shocked as to how a young player like him could strike such goal.
One coach told me that even in training with the senior team, he has hardly seen anything like that.
I coolly reminded them that such goals are the hallmark of all great footballers - Zinedine Zidane's goal at Old Trafford, Pele's volley from nearly the half way line in the World Cup.
His agent, who is 'rumoured' to be a full time scout at Leeds has according to the Herald, he has found another gem. He also is 'grooming' a number of young players which sounds very suspicious and poorly worded as I assume his agent is not a sex offender.
Apart from grooming a number of UK-based young Zimbabwean players, Zulu has also managed to nurture one Nigerian kid who, like Mbanje, is now with the Leeds United academy.
According to reports from UK, the young Nigerian player, who is 13, is said to be better than Cote d’lvoire’s striker Didier Drogba “because he is big and very skilful for his age”.
Of the others, details are hard to come by and there are only a few mentions of the rest, from what I can see, Tom Lyman and Piteu Chydrick have also featured for the under 18s in pre season against Sandejford, York and Liverpool, with Lyman scoring against Sandejford. With the academy in a good state at the moment, the youngsters are coming up at a good time but as with any young players, there is a lot of hard work ahead if they are to break through into the world of professional football.