Leeds new-boy Amari Miller: Quick, skillful and desperate to impress at Elland Road - The Athletic 29/6/21


By Gregg Evans

Amari Miller’s smile said it all. The 18-year-old feels wanted at Leeds United, the club he has just joined after spending his childhood with Birmingham City.

A little more forward planning may have seen him stick around at St Andrew’s but the professional contract he was offered arrived late and by then other clubs had started to circle. Tottenham Hotspur and Everton were interested but Leeds, with their exciting under-23 team, and history of pushing youngsters through the ranks and into the senior set-up, sold Miller their vision and there was no turning back.

It is understood the total package for Miller is around £1.5 million, with Birmingham receiving £200,000 up front. Such funds may represent good business for the selling club right now as the teenager has only played 188 minutes of first-team football following a breakthrough last season.

However, if he goes on to reach his full potential — and those who have worked with him believe he can — it will be Leeds smiling at what may become a bargain.

Miller is a silky-skilled winger with pace. He is confident in taking players on, cutting inside, and creating opportunities. Senior players at Birmingham quickly warmed to him when he was promoted up from the Championship club’s development team last season and staff admired his attitude and work ethic.

Still, his rapid rise went slightly under the radar in the West Midlands.

Make no mistake, he was viewed as the most promising development player at Birmingham by the end of last season, but in the years before, he was not singled out as a star prospect.

Those with knowledge also suggest the previous focus on Jude Bellingham and his younger brother, Jobe, by the now-departed chief executive Xuandong Ren, had an impact on others in the squad. Some players did not feel as if they had the full backing from the club and the confusion around the future of Birmingham’s academy during last season did not help.

Nevertheless, Miller leaves without the hype predecessors Nathan Redmond and Demarai Gray generated when they moved on under similar circumstances in years gone by. Perhaps it is because he has not played much men’s football yet.

Birmingham hoped he would stick around, grow as a player and increase in value as time went on, but he rejected their eventual contract offer and signed enhanced terms with Marcelo Bielsa’s Premier League side.

Had Birmingham acted quicker they may have kept him on board, but while he was appreciated and nurtured by academy staff, it was those responsible for putting the contract proposal together who left it too long.

With Ren now out the door and Birmingham restructuring, they will, no doubt, look to learn from Miller’s departure and try to tie down some of their more exciting youngsters to professional contracts at an earlier stage.

The winger, who played five times in the Championship last season, is ready for the new challenge, though. Posing for pictures he said: “The minute I heard Leeds United were interested, I knew what a massive club it was and it was too big to turn down. My family, friends and everyone who knew about it have just been brilliant. As soon as I spoke to Victor Orta (the director of football) and the club, I said to my agent that this was the one.”

A four-year deal also enticed Miller, who will initially link up with Mark Jackson’s under-23 side in Premier League 2 Division One next season. Head coach Bielsa will keep a close eye on his progress and promote him accordingly. The hope is that, despite leaving behind the opportunity of more Championship football next season, he can still grow quickly as a player at Leeds.

A heavy recruitment drive at youth level is gathering pace at Leeds, as they look to snap up some of the best young talent in the country and build for the future. They have been pitching to youngsters in months gone by and using last season’s under-23 title-winning campaign as evidence they are moving in the right direction. The rise of homegrown midfielder Kalvin Phillips into the England team at Euro 2020 is highlighted as a stand-out success story for the academy.

Miller will now be hoping to follow the same path after calling time on his eight years in Birmingham.

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