Leeds could unleash teenage ‘warrior’ after message to Jesse Marsch

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Leeds could unleash their 18-year-old Spanish striker Mateo Joseph in the coming weeks after he sent a message to manager Jesse Marsch by scoring a hat-trick for the club’s under-21s side during their 4-0 Premier League 2 victory over Stoke on Friday night. Joseph was described as a “warrior” by under-21s manager Michael Skubala in the aftermath of his three goals.

Leeds signed Joseph from Espanyol in January and handed him a three-and-a-half year deal at Elland Road. And in April he bagged his first Premier League 2 goal during his side’s 3-1 defeat against their Manchester City counterparts.

This term, the teenager appears to have come of age and found the back of the net four times during a 5-2 victory over the Derby under-21s at the start of August. He backed that up with a goal against Norwich 10 days later. And he was at it again on Friday night at York’s LNER Community Stadium.

Joseph netted the opener in the 13th minute as he poked home from close range, before doubling Leeds’ advantage five minutes later as he fired the ball into the top corner. Sonny Perkins then made it 3-0 just before the break, with Joseph getting his third to complete the rout seven minutes from the end as he found the top corner once again.

Joseph’s endeavours helped Leeds return to the top of the Premier League 2 Division 2 table. And after the match, his boss Skubala said: “I think Mateo was fantastic tonight. He’s come in and out a little bit but he’s been training like a warrior and you can see that in his game.

“I think sometimes you can talk about some other players but Mateo is very humble and very quiet in a way. But he’s really working hard. He’s got that energy and desire and we saw that in his goals and his finishing. He’s a threat for any defence.”

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The Leeds first-team have scored just three goals in their last four Premier League matches and drew a blank on Sunday as they were held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa at Elland Road. The Whites haven’t won since thrashing Chelsea 3-0 six weeks ago and have fallen to 12th in the Premier League table.

Leeds’ top scorer this season is Rodrigo, who has bagged four goals. And Marsch could be tempted to throw Joseph in alongside the Spain international sooner rather than later to see what he can do on the big stage.

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