Leeds United have placed a clear emphasis on investing in young talent in their two-and-a-half years back in the Premier League. The Whites have spent heavily on some of England and Europe's brightest prospects in recent transfer windows, and in the summer they also moved their first team recruitment policy to signing players primarily 25 and under.
In Leeds' first two seasons after promotion, the likes of Luke Ayling, Stuart Dallas, Mateusz Klich, Liam Cooper and Adam Forshaw (second campaign) were all regulars. There is no doubt they deserved that opportunity given the role they played in promotion, but the most recent transfer window felt like the first real changing of the guard.
Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Rasmus Kristensen, Luis Sinisterra were all brought in to make instant first team impacts, and are all aged 25 and under. They are players who Leeds can either build their team around for a number of years, or be sold on for profit in the future.
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And that transfer policy is reflected by two key statistics - the first of which is that Leeds have the most number of players aged 23 or under to play a minimum of 450 minutes in the Premier League with six. Illan Meslier, Pascal Struijk, Crysencio Summerville, Sinisterra, Adams and Aaronson are the men to achieve that so far.
Leeds also have the third lowest average age of players played in the division with 25; only Southampton and Arsenal are lower. And it is the latter who Leeds can look to emulate, all be it on a lesser scale.
Arsenal have been replacing some of their older players with young talent for a number of years now, but they have had to come through a number of testing seasons before the success that now seems to be arriving. The Gunners have been out of the Champions League since 2017 and finished eighth in Mikel Arteta's first two years in charge, a period which certainly tested the patience of supporters.
They now, however, sit top of the table with 37 points in 14 matches and are playing some of their best football for a long time. It might be that Leeds have to endure some difficult times before they can really push for where they want to be; which is consistent top 10 finishes and even Europe.
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