Leeds United have a decision to make this summer when it comes furthering the development of Charlie Cresswell. The defender isn’t expected to return to Thorp Arch for a few more days following his successful spell with England under-21s earlier this month and Jesse Marsch will certainly be keen to get a good look at him during his first pre-season in charge at Elland Road.
Cresswell found himself down the pecking order last season, behind Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente and Pascal Struijk, and his game time was limited to just five Premier League appearances. However, the defender has reached the point in his career where he needs senior minutes in order to keep progressing as a player.
As such, the club must consider whether Cresswell would be best off staying at Elland Road this year or going out on loan. Here, Leeds Live assess the options.
Read more: Leeds United youngsters aiming to catch Jesse Marsch's eye as pre-season begins
Stay at Elland Road
Cresswell may have been down the pecking order but a decent pre-season could give the head coach food for thought moving forward as he looks to work his way into Leeds’ backline. Of course, Leeds are well-stocked when it comes to centre-backs and the 19-year-old’s path to being a first-team regular looks fairly crowded at this stage.
If he were to stay put, though, he would have the opportunity to continue learning from those ahead of him, with Cooper, Koch and Llorente all able to boast international experience. Working with such players can only be beneficial for any youngster and he’ll be backing himself to push them all the way over the course of the season.
Staying would also give him the opportunity to make the occasional outing in the top flight, while remaining under the watchful eye of Marsch, who has spoken about trying to find his brightest young talents opportunities, and Cresswell is certainly one of them.
However, there’s a good chance that most of his game time would come in the under-21 ranks next season, a level he looks to be starting to outgrow. It’s a decent standard and he has certainly looked the part in recent seasons, but the Preston-born defender knows he needs to be playing consistent first-team football if he is to take the next step in his career.
Go on loan
Should Cresswell fail to see a route into Marsch’s immediate plans, it seems likely that he will push for a loan move away from Elland Road and he won’t be short of options if that were to be the case. The England youth international would almost certainly attract interest from a few top end Championship clubs and the rigours of the Football League season would help when it comes to his development and growth as a player.
In fact, a number of Cresswell’s Leeds teammates have taken advantage of loan moves in the past, with Patrick Bamford, Tyler Roberts and, of course, Jack Harrison, all furthering their careers away from their parent clubs at the time. He’s also seen international teammates flourish whilst on loan, such as Djed Spence, Morgan Gibbs-White and Cameron Archer.
A loan move might lead to him dropping out of the thoughts of Marsch for at least a season, but Cresswell certainly cannot allow his impressive progress to stall at this pivotal age. As such, if Elland Road opportunities appear to be few and far between, a move away might be the best course of action.
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