Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has urged the club to arrange a loan move for young prospect Ryan Edmondson in the 2020/21 campaign.
The 18-year-old is someone who has been making waves in the club’s youth side this season and he put in a particularly impressive performance in a game against Hull City back in January, scoring twice in a 5-0 victory (leedsunited.com).
Just one month later his season was halted after picking up a knee injury that ruled him out for 12 weeks. However, when he returns for next term, Whelan believes that instead of playing more youth football it would be more beneficial for him to go out on loan and play in a first-team somewhere.
Speaking about the youngster, the 45-year-old told Football Insider: “He needs to go on loan, I’ve said this season. If he’s not going to be used in the first-team then we need to be fair to this player. He’s banging goals in for fun, he’s got all the credentials there to be a very good player.
“He’s something that is kind of going out of fashion now in football which is that six-foot, strong, main striker. He could be very well utilised, he’s a different type of player to what people come up against these days in the Championship.
“He’s got pace, he’s strong, he can hold the ball up, he’s got a great eye for a goal but if the club are going to not use him they’ve got to be fair with him and that means banging him out on loan, giving him that opportunity.
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“Nobody wants to hold their career, he should have gone on loan in January because he’s been flying for a year-and-a-half now and under-23s is no good to him any more, it becomes a little bit too easy.”
Whelan certainly has a point here. Indeed, despite regularly impressing for the Whites at youth level as already mentioned, he has found first-team opportunities under Marcelo Bielsa very limited.
So far in his Leeds career, Edmondson has managed to make just two senior appearances, neither of which came in the current campaign (Transfermarkt).
With the Elland Road outfit likely to be playing in a higher division next season due to their strong position in the Championship (BBC Sport), it is difficult to see him getting more minutes any time soon.
Therefore a loan move could be the best option for the 18-year-old to continue his development as there is only so much you can learn playing youth football.
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