Ung spiller: Jayden Lienou

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Noen ganger lager vi nok tråder på unge spillere for tidlig. Ikke det at det er noen katastrofe om vi har en tråd om en ung spiller som aldri slår helt gjennom, men det møter noen ganger kritikkk...

Tråden om Jayden Lienou kunne vi nok opprettet allerede i juli, da 17-åringen skiftet fra Manchester City til Leeds. Jayden ble født i Wigan og har representert Wales opp gjennom aldersgruppene. Klubbmessig har det vært Liverpool, Everton og Manchester City.

YEP skrev om overgangen 10.juli 2025.
https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-manchester-city-transfers-5217690

Leeds United have signed academy prospect Jayden Lienou from Manchester City.
The Welsh youth international signs a three-year deal at Elland Road and will continue his development within the club's Thorp Arch academy.

Lienou was part of Man City's Under-18 Premier League North title win last season and has been capped at various different youth levels for Wales.

A club statement on Thursday, July 10 confirmed: "Leeds United are pleased to announce the signing of Jayden Lienou, who joins the club's Academy from Manchester City.

"The left-back has put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the Whites, tying the 17-year-old down to 2028 as he now continues his development at Thorp Arch.

"A regular in City's side that last season won the U18 Premier League North, Lienou has also represented Wales at youth level.

"Everyone at Leeds United would like to welcome Jayden to the club and we look forward to seeing his development at Thorp Arch."

Lienou's arrival follows the signing of fellow defender Louis Enahoro-Marcus on a two-year deal. The centre-back was recently released by Liverpool with whom he had spent the best part of a decade.

Transfermarkt
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jayden-lienou/profil/spieler/1122308

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Han har ennå ikke debutert for førstelaget vårt, men Wales kaller ham opp likevel.

Tipper det mest handler om å sikre at han velger Wales, de gjorde jo det samme med Charlie Crew for en tid tilbake.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Congratulations to #LUFCU21s defender Jayden Lienou who has been promoted to the Wales senior squad for their upcoming games against Ghana & Romania

#LUFCYouth | #LUFC

https://x.com/leedsutdacademy/status/2061130619724161498?s=20

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For et år for Jayden!

Fra U18-fotball for Manchester City til å være på benken for Leeds førstelag samt å bli kallet inn til landslagssamling for Wales store gutter.

Tipper han er fornøyd med valget han gjorde forrige sommer: Leeds United.

Wales boss Craig Bellamy on Jayden Lienou call-up: "We believe this boy has got a real chance... we see a player with real high potential"



Some insight on how Lienou has impressed Leeds United academy analysts since arriving last summer 👇 #lufc
https://x.com/isaacjohnsonLL/status/2061460819196473404?s=20

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/who-jayden-lienou-leeds-uniteds-34046115


Insiders admire his physicality and pace, with his one-v-one ability notable. Having been a scholar of the Pep Guardiola philosophy at Man City, Lienou can also invert from full-back and come centrally, as well as work the channel.

Lienou, described as of grounded character, is tipped for a bright future but there is also acknowledgement of how strong Leeds are at left-back with Gabriel Gudmundsson starring, James Justin as cover and a potential new back-up set to arrive this summer.

With Lienou included, it is the best depth United have had in the department for some time. The defender has been involved in first-team training this season and is likely to be taken on the club's pre-season tour.

As always, whether he can break into the senior side on a regular basis is both down to circumstance and personal growth but Under-21s boss Scott Gardner recently ringfenced Lienou as someone who has offered "something completely different" within his academy skill base.

Amid a spate of injuries, his inclusion on the bench at Tottenham Hotspur - the first ever senior matchday squad he has been named in - may have understandably been the first time some Leeds fans had heard of Lienou. But Craig Bellamy has been keeping a close eye on his progress.

Speaking about Lienou's selection on Monday, the Wales boss said: "There are one or two that are very young, like Jayden for instance. l've watched him a lot in Leeds' Under-21s.

"He's done very well in the younger set-ups for Wales. But he's definitely a player that we like. So [when] a space creeps up, why are we wasting time, let's get him in.

"We believe this boy has got a real chance. Now of course, there has to be other progressions to his game to be able to allow him to be able to be a top, top player for Wales.

"But what we've seen already in his development - and that's from Leeds, not from us - we see a player with real high potential that can have a huge impact in an area that's going to be really important for us."

Lienou - who played 27 academy games this season - described his first senior matchday experience at Leeds as a "milestone reached" and "another step in the right direction", and he will be feeling similarly about his Wales selection. Should he get onto the pitch, it will be his career senior debut.

Regardless, though, it has been a season of promising progression for Lienou, who has gone from playing for the Under-18s in the FA Youth Cup to being named on Daniel Farke's bench to an international call-up in the space of just six months.

[Asbjørn]

For et år for Jayden!

Fra U18-fotball for Manchester City til å være på benken for Leeds førstelag samt å bli kallet inn til landslagssamling for Wales store gutter.

Tipper han er fornøyd med valget han gjorde forrige sommer: Leeds United.

YEP og Graham Smyth tar også en High Five  for Jayden!


https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-news-jayden-lienou-craig-bellamy-wales-8652088

"When I saw the kid, I was like, 'Wow, this kid's top'," he said. "But the reports I had before that gave me an opportunity to get excited about the kid, and when I saw him I was completely impressed. He's been training with the Leeds first-team as well, so definitely monitoring him.

"He's mobile, not just from a full-back area, can move into the six, can move into the pockets, can go high and wide, got a good art of defending, physically exceptional. Loads and loads of improvements to be made, which all 17/18-year-old kids have to make, but at this present moment Leeds are doing an incredible job with him. It's a lot to be excited about for me personally."

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Får forlenget kontrakten etter bare et år. Treårskontrakt.
Skal selvfølgelig være med på pre seasonturen

Det spennende er om de nå lar være å kjøpe cover for Gudmundsson eller om det kommer en ny venstreback inn i sommer. Uansett har man James Justin å ty til...


https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-news-jayden-lienou-wales-man-city-pre-season-elland-road-8813705

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Beren Cross med artikkel om Jayden i dag.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7502030/2026/08/19/leeds-jayden-lienou-rising-star/
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It just so happens that Jayden Lienou, the now-18-year-old left-back they took from Manchester City last summer, is building up steam.
...
Daniel James, who went up against Lienou in training for much of last season, was asked about his team-mate during that Wales camp. He told reporters: "He has been brilliant this season. We have been training against him a lot. He's a great lad.

"It'll be great for him this week to experience it, but it always helps to have a few familiar faces coming into camp, too. He thoroughly deserves it. He's been great since he's been here and great at Leeds. He's definitely one for the future, a great player."
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Ethan Ampadu, his captain in West Yorkshire and another Wales international, told the media: "I see him day in and day out at Leeds, and I know the ability he's got and the levels he can get to, but he's a hard-working kid. He's young, he's got a lot to learn, but I'm sure he can."

Farke has shown that if a player is good enough, they are old enough. Archie Gray, one of the finest academy graduates from Leeds in recent memory, was a mainstay in the 2023-24 season at 17 years old.
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Speaking to the club's official website after signing his new contract this summer, he said: "I'm probably further ahead than I thought I was going to be when I first signed for Leeds. When me and Scott (Gardner, under-21 head coach) sat down at the start of the season, we set some goals to get to certain situations, milestones in my career, and I've exceeded that."

Gardner spoke about Lienou's rapid development. He acknowledged that the 18-year-old was far better than what they already had at Thorp Arch when he arrived from City.

"The new faces like Jayden offer something completely different to what we had before and they complement the rest of the players, particularly the younger group coming up," he told the club website. "We are excited to see where they can go."

Gardner also said youth football would only take Lienou so far: "There comes a point where under-21s football provides a certain amount for the lads, but after that, they do need to go and experience senior games and they will be much better and more experienced as players and as people.

"We have also had six or seven lads around the first-team training group, so for them to be around Premier League footballers every single day can help them improve as players."

As he continues to train with the first team, Lienou will hope he can make that leap.

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En kan argumentere at Farke ikke slapp til unggutter i fjor. Vel, han slapp til maange mens han var sjef i Norwich (kanskje han ...måtte), men han slapp også til Archie Gray i sin tid selv om klubblegenden Luke Ayling kunne ha blitt brukt.