Leeds United underwent their first training session under the auspices of new manager Marcelo Bielsa yesterday. The club photographers were out in force, with a few interesting faces snapped in action.
One such player was Japanese midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi. It was, despite signing for the club in January, the 21-year-old’s first training session with Leeds United.
The Japanese international arrived from Gamba Osaka in the winter and received his work permit to play in the UK. However, Leeds decided he was better off heading out on loan to Spanish sister club Cultural Leonesa.
Ideguchi struggled to make an impact with the Segunda Liga club. He barely featured and toward the end of his spell was not even in the matchday squad. Cultural were eventually relegated and, because of his lack of action, Ideguchi surprisingly missed out on the Japan squad for the World Cup.
Now he is back at Leeds he will hope to have a future under the new manager.
On paper, there is no reason why Bielsa will not take a shine to Ideguchi. A fantastic passer of the ball, tenacious and hard-working in the centre of the park, he is the sort of player that Bielsa could get on board with.
But with the Argentine also admitting the squad size needs trimming, the fear from Ideguchi will be he is an easy cull.
It will be interesting to see how the 21-year-old Japanese talent is used in pre-season, which may highlight whether or not he has a future under Bielsa at Elland Road.