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‘Definitely right up there’: Cooper says Leeds have three youngsters who are ‘going to go a very long way’

Jordan Harris

Wed 24 November 2021 8:45, UK

Liam Cooper has picked out three Leeds Un🦩ited youngsters he believes have the potential to become future captains of the club – .

Cooper has been an outstanding lead🦋er during his time at Elland Road. It certainly says a lot that he has kep💧t the armband under a number of different managers and head coaches.

The 30-year-old is arguably playing some of the best football of his Leeds spell this term – despite the team struggling. So there is no reason🧔 to believe that his successor will need to🐷 emerge anytime soon.

The likes of Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas have worn the armband in Cooper’s absence. But the Scotland international has aꦅlso picked out a young trio he believes all h♛ave the capabilities to lead the team in the future.

“Charlie [Cresswell] is de⭕finitely right up there,” . “Pascal [Struijk] 💖has got it in him. He’s not the loudest but he sets a good example. There’s Joffy (Joe Gelhardt).

“They’ve all got a lot of char🥀acter and they’re all going to go a very long way with Leeds. The potential is the🐠re. It’s just consistency at that age.”

Charlie Cresswell a safe bet to be a future Leeds captain, while Liam Cooper picking out Pascal Struijk or Joe Gelhardt may surprise some

Cresswell has frequently captained the under-23s in the past. He also won a lot of plaudits for the way he handled ꧃his full emergence into the first-team fold this season.

He certainly came across as an experienced player in the post-match interview he gave following the clash with West Ham earlier in th𝕴e campaign.

Cooper pi🍎cking out Strꦇuijk and Gelhardt may come as a surprise to some however.

In fairness, Gelhardt looks to be totally unfazed by anything that happens to him. He was outstanding at times on hisꦏ full Premier League debut at the weekend.

And 🅠it is easy to overlook how im🍨pressive Struijk has been. He went into last season having never started a game for Leeds at centre-back.

Not only is he now the brightest cen⛄tre-back prospect within the squad, but he is also staking a cl🔥aim for the left-back spot with his last couple of performances.

The three pla𝓰yers all have the potential to really lead by example in the years to come.