There was a surprise return to Leeds United for one Elland Road favourite earlier this summer.
A familiar face return to Leeds United this summer as the Whites prepared for their big return to the Premier League.
Much of the focus was understandably placed upon Daniel Farke’s first-team ranks as a frenetic summer transfer window saw the Whites squad boosted by ten new arrivals at a combined cost of around £100 million. The likes of Lucas Perri, Anton Stach and Gabriel Gudmundsson have already shown their worth as Farke’s men have made a solid start to the new season by collecting four points from home games with Newcastle United and Everton and an away day at title contenders Arsenal.
However, it was an unexpected arrival within the Whites Under-21s setup that caught the eye as academy product Jonny Howson returned to his boyhood club at the age of 37 to play a new role in aiding the developing of some of the club’s most exciting prospects.
WHITES RETURN: For Leeds United promotion-winner Jonny Howson, above.placeholder image
WHITES RETURN: For Leeds United promotion-winner Jonny Howson, above. | LUFC
Over 13 years after initially leaving Leeds to join Norwich City, Howson is back at the club following an eight-year spell at Middlesbrough and has now taken up a role as a player-coach within the Whites second string. Working alongside Under-21s coach Scott Gardner, Howson will undertake on-field duties and will help to guide the development of his younger team-mates at close-quarters.
Howson has already made three appearances for the Under-21s this season and his impact is already clear to see as he has started in wins against Aston Villa and Burnley and made a late substitute appearance in a 3-2 defeat against Ipswich Town. The man who made over 220 senior appearances for Leeds is now settling into life with the club where it all began - and he admitted he is taking his time to assess how he feels about the next stage in his own career.
He told the Teesside Gazette: “As we sit here now, the idea will be to go and give it a go eventually. But in football now, there are so many different roles. It’s like I’m starting afresh really. That is exciting. I always knew in the past couple of years, you do start thinking about what’s next.
“That’s natural when you get to a certain age. It’s exciting because you don’t know where it might take you. I have aspirations in my mind: the place I hope it takes me, what I hope to achieve and what I hope to go on and do. That’s in a perfect world, but, as we know, certainly in football, it doesn’t always go to plan.
“Because I’m starting new, I’m not too sure. I might get six months down the line and feel it doesn’t suit me, or find something else that interests me. I can’t know for sure. But, as we sit here now, in a perfect world, I’d love to give managing a go eventually.”
Continue Reading