Radrizzani doesn’t care about results
Andrea Radrizzani makes his first appearance of the series in the fourth episode of Academy Dreams: Leeds United. Speaking with director of football Victor Orta at a city hotel, the owner makes it clear how his feelings about under-23 results have changed.
“I enjoy a lot watching the under-23s this year,” he said. “Initially, I got a bit upset when we lose games, but then I start to not care anymore about the results.
“I don’t even check the table. I just enjoy watching them. I don’t care if we lose or win because they play always very offensive football.
“Even when we change a lot of players, they are a few I really like a lot.”
READ MORE: Leeds United midfielder Marc Roca opens up about adjusting to life in Yorkshire
Orta’s favourites
In the same conversation, Radrizzani asks Orta who he would buy from United’s under-23s if he were the sporting director at another club. One of his answers may seem pretty obvious, but the second could be less so based on how this last summer played out.
“You know what is my favourite,” said Orta. “Gelhardt obviously is my favourite, but I think Lewis Bate is special too. For me, Lewis Bate is special.”
A scouting masterclass
Mateo Joseph’s January arrival from Spain is one of the key sections of episode four. The teenage striker came in from Espanyol as a new face in the winter transfer market.
The 18-year-old was not widely known before he arrived, but he was full of praise for the scouting work Orta and his team had done on him before he signed on. He said: “They knew me better than even my family.
“The PowerPoint about me, about everything I did on the pitch and off. That interest made me and my family make this choice.”
Summerville speaks out on January loan request
Another of the key strands to the under-23 season was Crysencio Summerville’s loan request. In the weeks after Cody Drameh went out to Cardiff City, Marcelo Bielsa was asked about the winger’s situation and he spoke at length about why the Dutch winger had not been allowed to leave.
Speaking for the first time in the British media about it, Summerville is honest about the impatience he had behind the conversation he had with Bielsa. The youngster starts to call it an argument, but corrects himself halfway through the word.
Summerville candidly admits he asked Bielsa for advice on his behaviour and how he should be acting off the pitch in an effort to improve his selection prospects.
Bielsa’s exit
Bielsa’s sacking is covered in episode four. Summerville, Bate, Nohan Kenneh and Charlie Cresswell open up on their shock, the emotional meetings which took place at Thorp Arch and how difficult that period was for everyone.
You can watch all six episodes of Academy Dreams: Leeds United on Amazon Prime Video now.
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