Mateo Joseph is beginning to find form at RCD Mallorca following his summer Leeds United exit.
Leeds United loan exit Mateo Joseph has been nominated for October’s La Liga Young Player of the Month Award.
Joseph joined RCD Mallorca on loan in August after refusing to join his Leeds teammates for pre-season in Germany. The 21-year-old striker felt first-team opportunities would have been lacking in West Yorkshire and was keen to continue developing in his home country.
After six appearances - four of which were from the start - without a direct attacking contribution, Joseph grabbed an assist off the bench in a 2-1 defeat at Athletic Club earlier this month. And the youngster’s loan spell burst into life with a match-winning brace at Sevilla last weekend.
Joseph was initially named on the bench at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before an introduction on the hour mark, with Mallorca 1-0 down at the time. Vedat Muriqi pulled one back for the visitors before his on-loan teammate from Leeds scored twice inside five minutes.
Both goals were well taken too, with Joseph getting in front of his man to finish a brilliant cross from close-range before latching onto a loose long ball and finishing calmly beyond Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. And the striker has been recognised for his efforts.
Despite playing just 54 minutes of football during October, all of which came from the bench, Joseph has been named on a five-man shortlist for La Liga’s Under-23 Player of the Month. The Leeds youngster faces competition for the award from Real Madrid star Arda Guler, Villarreal winger Alberto Moleiro, Atletico Madrid’s Pablo Barrios and Clemens Riedel of Espanyol.
Leeds United loanee Mateo Joseph in the goals at Mallorca
Joseph has been the most prolific of that five-man shortlist in October so far, with his three goal contributions more than any Player of the Month rivals. Villarreal’s Moleiro grabbed a goal and an assist in a 2-2 draw against Real Betis, while neither Barrios nor Guler registered any direct contributions and Riedel is a centre-back.
Following that match-winning brace at Sevilla, Joseph earned plenty of praise from national media with Diario AS labelling him ‘decisive’. They added of the Leeds loanee: “He scored his first two goals for Mallorca to seal the comeback. Excellent, showed his quality in finishing both goals.”
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Head coach Jagoba Arraste was also full of praise for his young striker, who had been dropped from the starting line-up after struggling to open his account. Arraste told Marca: “He’s working hard to improve. He always stays at the end of training to improve his finishing. I’m very happy.”
Leeds will be delighted to see Joseph get off the mark in Spain, with his continued development only positive for Elland Road chiefs. Approaches to insert a permanent clause into a deal were continually knocked back over the summer with the young striker still highly regarded in West Yorkshire, even if immediate minutes in the Premier League looked unlikely.
A good season on loan for Joseph will either prepare him for a return to Leeds, where he can stake a claim for first-team football, or increase his market value if club chiefs eventually decide to cash in. Either way, all parties will be happy to see him scoring goals and playing well.
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