17-år gamle Charlie Crew spiller stort sett hver kamp for U21 for tiden. Like fullt har Leeds klart å la ham unngå for mange overskrifter. Men når han i landslagspausene drar til Wales for U21-spill slipper pressen inn på ham.
(Det skal sies at treneren hans på Wales U21 er var gamle unge lovende Matthew Jones, Tommy Knarviks gamle romkamerat).
Slik Finlay Gorman nå skifter fra Leeds til Manchester, skiftet Charlie Crew fra Cardiff til Leeds. Men han ventet til han ble 17 og kunne skrive en profesjonell kontrakt. Det kan ikke Finlay gjøre på to år ennå. Kanskje han finner ut at gresset likevel ikke var grønnere...
Anyways, Charlie Crew:
Leeds United prodigy at centre of Wales-England tug-of-war lifts lid on 'very hard' Cardiff City move now paying off
The central midfielder has captained Wales at age-group level and is thriving at Elland Road, having signed his first pro deal in the summerBy Glen WilliamsCardiff City correspondent 09:36, 15 NOV 2023UPDATED09:59, 15 NOV 2023There is a ceaseless and precarious balancing act when it comes to shining the spotlight on exciting young footballers. But when someone like Charlie Crew comes along, it's difficult to ignore his obvious talents and sky-high potential.
Reared at Cardiff City, the central midfielder was snared by then-Premier League side Leeds United in the summer of 2022 and his stock has risen sharply since. Still only 17, the Welsh youngster has made his Wales under-21s debut and signed his first professional contract at Leeds in recent months, with sources at Thorp Arch raving about the kid's ability and promise.
When he speaks, it's with a surprising maturity which belies his 17 years. He has the authority and assuredness of a player who has been in the business for a decade, rather than someone who was still a scholar back in July, for which he credits moving away from the comforts of south Wales.
He was a player who excited many in this corner of the world, being a standout at age-grade levels during his upbringing at Cardiff. Insiders at the Bluebirds academy had high hopes for him to gatecrash the first team in years to come. But when Leeds came knocking it presented Crew, and his family, with a big call to make. Leaving Cardiff, by his own admission, was a tough decision at such a young age.
"Moving away from family, moving to a club where you don't know anyone, you have to mature pretty quickly, so I think it's definitely helped," he said of having to grow up quickly. "And it's helped me moving up age groups, it's helped me integrate a lot better and settle in more quickly than if I was still at home and in a comfortable place.
"It was a very hard decision. But it was one me and my family felt we had to have time to discuss and make a family decision on. We went back and forth, should we go or should we stay, in the end we just took the jump, took the risk and, in my opinion, it's paying off at the moment.
"I'm really comfortable at Leeds now. So that hasn't changed, with changing clubs, and I'm really enjoying my time up there."
The statistics are pretty bleak when it comes to young footballers making it in the professional game, but just how does it feel when a budding young player puts pen to paper on his first professional deal?
"It's an amazing achievement," he added. "It's what I've been working towards since I was seven or eight. I've always seen people on social media signing pro deals and you're always like, 'Will that ever be me?'
"So, the fact I could sign my first one with such a big club like Leeds United, that now means so much to me, is amazing."
Elland Road is now almost a satellite site for Wales. Senior players Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Daniel James all ply their trade at the Yorkshire club, with Crew hot on their heels. The youngster is drawing inspiration from his clubmates and what they've all achieved on the domestic and international stage so far.
"They are people I can look up to at both club and country," he said. "I know exactly who to watch because they are the people I want to be next to or in front of."
Crew now seems to be a permanent fixture in the Wales under-21s set-up, despite having chopped and changed between the age groups this year. And, for him, it shows he is tracking in the right direction. Matty Jones has done a wonderful job in charge of the under-21s and Crew believes he is one of the best he has worked under in his albeit fledgling career to date.
"Matty has showed great support in me, back from when we were in the Victory Shield. When we had Brazil coming over to Denbigh, he has always been in and around our squads, even when he hasn't been the manager," he said of the Wales under-21s boss.
"The fact he's shown support from the start of my Wales career gives me even more confidence when I come into camps like this.
"He is one of the best managers I've played under. He ticks every box, he gets involved with us off the pitch and on the pitch. When you are preparing for a game you need confidence from your manager and your coaching staff and he gives us a huge amount of confidence going into every game.
"Like you saw in the Czech Republic in the last window, it means as much to him as it does to us. You saw him running down the touchline, which was quite funny!"
Jones said in the last international window that England were "aggressively pursuing" Crew and were keen on him switching international allegiances. However, last week the Wales under-21s boss appeared to suggest that pursuit had ended after conversations with Crew and his family.
“I think it’s ended," Jones said of England's desire to get Crew to switch. “Through the conversations we’ve had with Charlie, we knew the action plan that we had with him, and he supported that in regard to him spending time with the under-19s, and he dominated with his performances.
“He knew he would always get rewarded with that because we’ve made a pathway for Charlie, and we believe in his abilities. Having that dialogue with him and his family has hopefully supported him to make the right decision."
Crew will have seen the likes of Joe Low and Charlie Savage, who got debuts against Gibraltar last month, and Rubin Colwill, all of whom are in the under-21s cohort, get capped in recent years and will see that as his goal. In his position at club level, the likes of Archie Gray, who is also 17, is a regular fixture in the Leeds midfield, yet more inspiration to spur him on.
And while Crew wouldn't be drawn specifically on England's plan to change his allegiance, he did say that he hopes to muscle his way into that Wales first team at some point in the coming years.
"It just shows there is a pathway with Wales and that's the biggest thing. That's what all of us are trying to achieve. You are now playing with boys who have done it, so it gives you real hope and something to strive for," he said.
"There is a pathway that's been shown to us from when we were under-16s and under-17s, in regional camps. So the fact [Jones] is trusting me to be in the under-21s squad is amazing.
"That's what everyone wants to do. I have to be patient. I still have time and I'm still developing as a player. I've still got so much to learn. I just have to be patient and, with all the hard work, listening to Matty, the coaches at Leeds, hopefully I will develop and move on to the first team at some point."
Crew will hope to be in action for Wales under-21s when they take on Iceland at Rodney Parade on Thursday before hosting Denmark at the same venue on Monday in their U21 Euro qualifiers.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leeds-united-prodigy-centre-wales-28106555
