Mills: Three Leeds U-23s tipped for imminent Premier League debuts after key update
Danny Mills has suggested young Leeds United trio Cody Drameh, Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood could be handed Premier League debuts before the end of the season.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Whites and England defender delivered his verdict after CEO Angus Kinnear revealed he hoped all three would have an impact on the first team next term.
Kinnear told BBC Radio Leeds he wanted to sign players with high development ceilings and namechecked Drameh, Gelhardt and Greenwood as examples.
The trio have all been regulars for the club’s Under-23s side who currently sit top of Premier League 2 Divison 2.
Asked whether we could see them being given Premier League debuts before the end of the current campaign, Mills told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “Yes, and there might be a few on the bench.
“This is what happens, we talk about it with international squads, you just bringing them into the first-team fold. They train with the first team, they travel with the first team so they get to see what it’s about and they react to it. Everybody reacts differently and it’s not always in a positive way.
“It’s like anything when you’re doing something new for the first time nobody’s quite sure how you’re going to react.
“It’s an opportunity for those players to get used to it and for the manager to see how they handle it themselves.
“Again, it’s a new experience. Sometimes you’ve got to go through a period of new experiences several times to get it right. We don’t always start something new and go ‘oh, we’re great at it’ and settle down immediately.
“There are all sorts of things that come into it.”
In other news, Leeds United are willing to listen to offers for a big-money 2020 signing as their transfer plan is revealed.