Leeds United's first foray into the January transfer market could be completed before the window even opens as they are reportedly on the verge of signing Birmingham City midfielder George Hall.
After a goal and two assists in 18 appearances for the Blues in the Championship this season, Hall is seen as one of England's hottest young prospects and the Whites have been linked to him for a few months now.
Manager Jesse Marsch will have no doubts in his mind about how he'll be using the England Under-19s representative, after he wasn't shy about giving young talent like Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto and Sam Greenwood chances to impress in the top-flight rather than wasting them in the academy setup.
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As the return of the Premier League nears, Hall will be able to take advantage of Leeds' summer signings from earlier this year with the likes of Tyler Adams and Marc Roca being fantastic players to learn from for Hall if the Whites can secure his services.
Who is George Hall?
Hall first appeared on Birmingham's radar in 2012, when he joined their academy from Headless Cross' Under-8s side. Hall then started to appear on the national stage when he and his Year 8 football team at St Bede's Catholic Middle School in Redditch won the English School's Football Association Under-13s School Cup after he managed to score the second in a 2-0 win in the final.
After appearances for the Blues' Under-18s side in the FA Youth Cup in 2020, he was promoted to the Under-23s where he played 12 matches in the Premier League 2 across 2021 and 2022 while also doing duties in the Under-18s Premier League.
That season, he managed six goals and two assist across 20 appearances in all competitions and was given two Championship appearances - both in 2-1 losses to Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers.
Now, he's gone straight into the senior side, and has had a smattering of substitute performances including coming on in the final 12 minutes and finding the assist in a 1-1 draw against table-toppers Burnley in October.
He's also made appearances for the Three Lions Under-19s squad in their qualification campaign for the UEFA Euro U-19 Championship, scoring against Denmark U-19s in a 4-2 win while grabbing himself an assist in a 2-0 win over Montenegro.
What has been said about him?
Birmingham City manager John Eustace has regularly sung Hall's praises but when rumours began to swirl last month, he told BirminghamLive that he wasn't surprised a Premier League team had come knocking for him.
"Not at all. George is a brilliant player, a really good young player and I expect it with all our young players. George’s performances this season have been very, very good.
"He has made 16-17 appearances now – last season he made two appearances. It’s my job to develop him properly, which I feel like we are doing. We are giving him starts, he is impacting off the bench but it’s all about his development.
"It’s important I don’t put too much pressure on him and that every time he goes on to the field he makes an impact – and I think he has done that up to now. It’s just about his development, he’s just turned 18, we have to put things into perspective here, we are giving all these young boys a fantastic opportunity to showcase themselves in a very, very good environment."
After Hall's only goal so far this season, the opener against promotion-hopefuls Watford at the start of the season, Eustace again pushed on the point that he's only a young talent - and has a lot of room for blossoming.
"He's a class act, he's going to have a massive future in the game for sure. I was delighted for him to get the goal.
"The most important thing is that we don't get carried away with his performances - it's my job to protect him, to play him when he needs to be played.
"There's no pressure on these boys [the youngsters at Birmingham], we've got some fantastic senior players in the group who are helping them through vital periods of the games."
Even his old development coach Mike Dodds, who helped sign him to the Blues as a nine-year-old, speaks highly of him - although admits he didn't see him as a standout amongst their crop of new talent at the time.
"He had spells of playing at the back, whether it be centre half or right back, he had spells of playing central midfield – which he has obviously found that home now, he also had spells being a wide man.
"His pathway wouldn’t have been that stereotypical, very clean, plays a certain position route, all the way through from Under 9s. It was probably 16s when he started to play more regularly in the middle of the park. Paul Harsley really tried nail down that position of being an energetic, kind of running No. 10 or No. 8, someone that probably doesn’t want the ball into feet that much but who will disrupt the opposition in terms of his running off the ball.
"He has gone on to have England recognition and he has done really well with that. If you had said to me at 13 or 14 he would go on to represent the country, I wouldn’t have been as sure, if I am completely honest.
"They always had high hopes for him but the big question was what position he would end up. The parents deserve a lot of credit because they were very consistent in their approach with George.
"He has got a real natural work ethic, he would apply himself to whatever task the football club gave him. If it was playing in the wide areas or in defence, he would just do it.
"Once we found a position that suited his physical and technical attributes, one who is going to run forward, he excelled from there. Eventually the pieces of the jigsaw have all fallen into place for him."
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