Scale of Leeds United chance for Whites youngster made clear as fresh Elland Road exit looms - YEP 13/7/23

The scale of a Leeds United opportunity presenting itself to a Whites youngster was clearly highlighted in Wednesday’s Manchester United friendly with an added new dimension.

By Lee Sobot

New Whites boss Daniel Farke named the expected mixture of experience and youth for the midweek warm up game against the Red Devils for which a full team of Leeds players were not even involved.

Players either recovering from injuries or some of those only recently returning from internationals did not board the plane whilst Max Wober, Junior Firpo and Helder Costa also played no part in the fixture despite flying out to Oslo.

Yet Farke was still able to name a 24-man squad and changed his entire team at the half-time break but with one exception, for whom the chance to return to Leeds as a regular starter is becoming increasingly clear.

Twenty-one-year old right-back Cody Drameh has spent large parts of the last two seasons away from Elland Road with loan spells at first Cardiff City and then Luton Town and on both occasions he excelled. Drameh joined Cardiff on loan for the rest of the 2021-22 season in January of that campaign and impressed to such a degree in 22 outings that he was named the Bluebirds’ player of the year.

That was quite a feat for a player who only joined the club in January and Drameh returned to Leeds having clearly advertised his claims for a chance in the Whites right back role which has long been held down by Luke Ayling.

Yet Leeds then signed another right back in the form of Rasmus Kristensen in the summer and for Drameh the pattern of the 2022-23 campaign was to follow the one that preceded it as he again left Leeds in January for another Championship loan spell, this time at Luton Town.

There was no player of the year award this time around but instead an even greater overall glory of 19 outings en route to promotion to the Premier League via the Hatters defeating Coventry City on penalties in the Championship play-off final in which Drameh played the full 120 minutes.

But the England youth international defender was ultimately only on loan and has again returned to Leeds but this time with an even stronger chance of becoming a Whites starter, highlighted in being the only Leeds player to feature for the full duration of Wednesday’s friendly.

Having only recently returned to Thorp Arch, Kristensen did not travel to Oslo but in any case the 25-year-old is expected to follow Diego Llorente in joining AS Roma. That would leave the right-back role as a straight shoot-out between Ayling, Drameh and possibly the versatile Jamie Shackleton.

Stuart Dallas would also be in the mix as another option when returning although the Northern Ireland international might be best deployed in midfield. Ayling, meanwhile, has often been deployed as a centre-half in times of need and Leeds are not presently blessed with an abundance of options at centre-half given Robin Koch’s departure to Eintracht Frankfurt too.

It all meant that Drameh was given the nod to start at right-back against the Red Devils and the defender produced a decent enough showing in a first half which ended goalless in being part of a back line featuring captain Liam Cooper and youngster Jeremiah Mullen at centre-back, flanked by Drameh and Leo Hjelde as full backs.

There were then ten changes at the interval but there was no rest for Drameh who was presented with a different task of filling in at left-back in replacing Hjelde as half-time substitute Ayling took up the right-back role as part of an XI that now had Pascal Struijk and young Kris Moore as centre halves.

Operating in the left full back position proved more of a challenge for natural right back Drameh and United’s back disjointed back line was particularly all at sea for the second Red Devils goal as Noam Emeran played in Joe Hugill who suddenly had the freedom of the penalty box to sweep home.

Yet Wednesday’s friendly still produced a pleasing overall return from Drameh in what was his first outing for Leeds since January’s FA Cup clash at his former loan side Cardiff in which he was brought on as a 59th-minute substitute for Kristensen as part of a 2-2 draw.

Leeds eventually progressed past the Bluebirds with a 5-2 victory in the Elland Road replay, after which Drameh joined Championship side Luton on loan eight days later. By the time he returned, Leeds and Luton had swapped divisions and time will now tell whether a change at right back is imminent too.