Leeds United youngster Mateo Joseph has joined in with first-team training at Thorp Arch, Joe Donnohue of The Yorkshire Evening Post reports.

The lowdown

Joseph, an 18-year-old centre-forward, joined Leeds from Espanyol's Under-19 side in January of this year.

He's been playing for the Whites' Under-21 side at Premier League 2 level, and clearly grabbed the attention of Jesse Marsch when he scored four goals in their season opener against Derby County.

He then followed that up with another strike in a 2-2 draw with Norwich City ten days later.

The latest

Donnohue took to Twitter to share the news about Joseph, who's been rewarded for an electric start to the season.

He wrote: "January signing Mateo Joseph has been pictured in training with the #LUFC first-team following his five-goal start to the U21s’ PL2 campaign."

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The verdict

Leeds are down a centre forward option at the moment, and so there may be an opportunity for Joseph to make his debut in some capacity.

His fellow Spaniard Rodrigo faces up to a month on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder against Everton last week.

Perhaps Joseph, training amongst the senior stars at Thorp Arch, can make his case for a place in the squad against Nottingham Forest on Monday.

If he proves he can cope with the step-up in quality and physicality, then perhaps Jesse Marsch will be tempted.

The manager has already said publicly that Joseph is 'inching closer and closer to first-team possibilities'.

His coach Michael Skubala called him 'brilliant' after his four goals against Derby, and also raved about the player's application.

"I’ve been here a week and what an athlete Mateo is and what a kid he is, first of all," he said.

"He works hard, his attitude is brilliant and I look at him and think ‘what you could be for a Leeds player’. If I’m watching that as a fan I’m thinking ‘Wow! I want him in the team’. Today I thought he showed his qualities, he absolutely showed his quality, his spinning in behind and getting four goals.

"I thought he was exciting today."