One of the very few silver linings of Leeds United’s injury-ridden and all-round underwhelming Premier League campaign was the amount of exposure gained by the club’s young players. A handful of the most promising talents within the Whites squad were on the bench most weekends while others gained plenty of first-team involvement.
Such was the extent of the injury problems at Elland Road, Leeds handed eight league debuts to teenagers, more than ever in a single Premier League season. Those players were Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood, Charlie Cresswell, Crysencio Summerville, Leo Hjelde, Cody Drameh, Lewis Bate and Stuart McKinstry.
Between them, those eight young players played 1,073 minutes of football in the Premier League, meaning Leeds gave more minutes to teenagers than all-but three top-flight sides in the 2021/22 campaign. The only teams to have given more were Southampton (2,222), Manchester United (1,527) and Norwich (1,079).
