Leeds United 2 West Ham United 1: YEP video verdict
Leeds United sold academy graduate Charlie Cresswell in the summer of 2024.
Charlie Cresswell has urged more young players to follow in his footsteps after being given opportunities in France he lacked at Leeds United.
Cresswell left Leeds for Toulouse in a £3.8million deal last year, having found regular football hard to come by in the Championship under Daniel Farke. The Thorp Arch academy graduate was behind an ever-present Joe Rodon at right centre-back and played just 137 minutes of league action during the 2023/24 campaign.
A move to France saw the 23-year-old flourish last season, starting 29 of his 31 Ligue 1 appearances and scoring three times. This campaign, the former Leeds man is one of just two outfielders to play all 900 available league minutes for the mid-table outfit and believes Toulouse have given him a path to regular football that was not on offer back home.
“For young foreign players, I think it’s a great time to come to France and play in Ligue 1,” Cresswell told Footballogue.“Here, many clubs trust young players. Coaches have no problem playing younger players. No problem at all. Whereas in England, it’s harder to break into the first team because they really see you as a ‘kid’ at 18, 19, or 20 years old.
“Even here, at the Toulouse academy, the youngsters are all brilliant. In France, if they think a player is good enough, he’ll play. He’ll be given opportunities and full confidence. As a result, the player feels incredibly good, which can only be beneficial for himself, but also for the club.”
Leeds United academy graduate Charlie Cresswell impressing in France
Cresswell’s impressive form in France had raised some questions over whether he should have been sold but Leeds will be delighted to see him improving. The decision to have Rodon and Struijk start as many games as possible together clearly worked, with Farke’s side racking up 100 points on their way to the Championship title in May.
Read More
Leeds then angled their summer recruitment towards experience, with centre-back reinforcements arriving in the form of Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, who have both played regular top-flight European football. The former got his Premier League debut in a 2-1 win against West Ham last week.
Reports last summer suggested Toulouse were set to make a significant profit on Cresswell just one year after paying Leeds £3.8m, with suggestions he was on the radar of several clubs in England and across Europe. Price tags on the centre-back ranged between £15-20m at the time.
And while that might reflect poorly on Leeds’ initial sale, the YEP has already reported on the presence of a significant sell-on clause which would see around 15 per cent of any future profits head back to Elland Road. A £20m move would, for example, provide Leeds with a cash windfall of just over £4m, taking their profit on Cresswell up to almost £8m given he was an academy graduate.
Continue Reading