Leeds United youngster labelled 'special' by international boss ahead of potential senior debut — YEP 3/6/24
By Will Jackson
Leeds United’s Charlie Crew has been called up to the Wales
senior squad and could make his international bow this week
Wales manager Rob Page insists it made sense to expose Leeds
United’s Charlie Crew to the Wales first-team given the abundance of talent he
possesses. Crew received a surprise first call-up by Wales last week and the
17-year-old could make his international debut on Thursday when Page's side
take on Gibraltar.
The midfielder is no stranger to the Welsh set-up, having
represented his country at almost every age level from Under-15s to U21s, with
Crew earning his first call-up to the latter earlier this season. Of course,
Crew is still waiting to make a senior debut for Leeds with his game time at
club level being limited to youth team games.
However, he has spent time around the first-team picture
under Daniel Farke at Thorp Arch this season and he featured on the bench on
three occasions, with the German following the 17-year-old's progress closely.
Page is also keen to take a closer look at the youngster and Wales' failure to
secure qualification for Euro 2024 gives him that opportunity.
“He has loads of potential and that is the key. That is the
word for it at the minute," Page said when speaking about Crew, who joined
Leeds from Cardiff City in 2022. “I want to have a look at him first-hand. I
want to work with him and train with him. I have had reports from Mattie Jones
and Rich Williams (Wales U21s coaches) about him.
“Physically we need to be patient and wait for him to
develop, but with regards to his football ability he is special.”
He added: "He is a player. We are all disappointed we
did not qualify for the Euros. So would he have been selected for the squad to
go to the Euros? Probably not, I would have allowed him to develop nicely with
the younger age groups
"But now the potential he has shown at Leeds, being
involved with that group of players and listening to the manager and how he
speaks about him and having seen him myself... he has talent in abundance. I am
taking him away with us to expose him to the first-team lads and the culture,
and he will be better for that in the next few weeks.”
Crew, who is joined in the Wales squad by familiar faces
Ethan Ampadu, Dan James, Connor Roberts and Joe Rodon, wasn't the only
youngster called up to the senior Wales squad with Lewis Koumas of Liverpool
and Brentford's Fin Stevens making the step up, too. They will have the
opportunity to make their international debut this Thursday (June 6) against
Gibraltar in Faro, Portugal before Page takes his side to Trnava for a friendly
clash against Slovakia on June 9.
“I will always give the kids an opportunity,” Page added.
“We want to continue to do that, I want the lads to be pushed and the lads
mentioned have done that at club level. They have done it because they tick a
lot of boxes.