'Very Quick' Bahoya Star Now in Curious Situation Under Farke at Leeds

· GiveMeSport

Leeds United's summer signing Jean-Matteo Bahoya is not being given any early game time by Daniel Farke.

Leeds United are rightly on cloud nine after Monday night's thrashing of Newcastle United , but there are questions over the situation surrounding Jean-Matteo Bahoya. The Whites brushed aside the Magpies with ease. winning 4-1 thanks to goals from Jayden Bogle, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor, while the scoring was opened by an own goal.

Daniel Farke's men sent a clear signal to the rest of the Premier League that this season's ambition is not just to stay up, but also to push up the table and take on some of the bigger teams, based on talent, for a mid-table finish.

Leeds already have eight points from their first four games. and while we all must be careful giving the start of the season too much attention, it's clear the signs are positive. But there is a curious situation with summer signing Bahoya, who joined on a loan deal with the obligation of a future purchase.

> "Very great character, very quick player, so lots of potential. He can take players on." - Daniel Farke

The 21-year-old winger arrived with big expectations, already playing regularly with Eintracht Frankfurt, including in Europe. But he can't seem to buy a game, remaining an unused substitute again for the Newcastle game, even with Leeds having an extra substitution.

Newcastle lost Nico Gonzalez to a concussion, and because of that, both they and Leeds were allowed to make an extra substitution.

Farke brought Sean Longstaff, Harry Wilson. Brenden Aaronson, Lukas Nmecha and Melvin Bard off the bench, but Bahoya remained sat on the sidelines.

It's a concern for Leeds fans, many of whom have been excited about seeing the winger in action, with many concerned that Farke does not trust the youngster, or that he has not been impressed with what he has seen.

It is unlikely to be the case at this stage, but there is also a real danger with loan signings that include an obligation to buy under conditions that players are kept on the sidelines to ensure appearance thresholds are not met. This early in the season, that is not likely to be part of the equation, but it could be as the season goes on if Farke is not impressed.

But it is baffling that the German didn't bring on the talented young winger, given his wealth of experience and the lack of consequences late in the game, with Leeds having such a strong lead, taking a four-goal lead by the hour-mark.

Speaking when Bahoya arrived at Leeds, Farke said : "With Jean-Matteo, obviously a young prospect who recently played in Germany. Very great character, very quick player, so lots of potential. He can take players on, but of course, he's very, very young in age so he's different in comparison to Melvin.”

He added: “We had Bahoya on the list before [deadline day], we watched him before, a few weeks ago. I spoke with my connection of the sporting director at Frankfurt. We knew we weren't signing a finished product.”

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