Joel Piroe had Ruud van Nistelrooy as one of his mentors when coming through the ranks at PSV Eindhoven. The Leeds United striker played six UEFA Youth League matches under the now-Leicester City boss during the 2018/19 season in the club's Under-19s side. He scored twice - against Tottenham and Inter Milan - and assisted once, versus Barcelona.
“He trained us well on what to do and what to expect,” Dutchman Piroe recollected to native media last month. “Habits, what you do as a striker, what you look for from defenders, where you know the spaces fall, techniques in terms of shooting and repeating and repeating that.”
Piroe would go on to score three goals in 14 first-team appearances for PSV before moving to Swansea City in 2021. His 46 goals in 96 matches caught the eye of Daniel Farke, who snapped him up in August 2023.
Piroe hasn’t quite enjoyed the same scoring ratio at Elland Road. He is seven games away from matching his appearance tally at Swansea, yet would have to net 17 times in those fixtures to equal his scoring output at the Swans.
The attacker has ebbed and flowed during his time at United. Thirteen goals in 42 matches in his maiden campaign was a little underwhelming but he has already surpassed that total this time around.
Farke has always underlined his faith in Piroe, and after the 4-0 win at Watford in February set him a rough target of 20 goals for the end of the season. The goal at Vicarage Road marked his 14th of the campaign and the first time he had scored in three straight league games for Leeds.
Since then, he has scored just once in six matches. Before his three-game scoring streak, Piroe scored once in seven games. And that wasn't the first time he recorded such a ratio this season.
It must be mentioned that other elements of the 25-year-old’s game have improved. His link-up play has been productive for the most part and he seems to gain more joy when he drops deeper while playing as the number nine.
But, he is a striker and the only metric that should really count is goals. In that regard, he sits as the second highest scorer in the Championship with 15. Calls to drop him from the current team should not be taken seriously.
There is still room for improvement, though. Should Leeds indeed reach the Premier League, few would be satisfied with United having him as their primary attacker. He would no doubt play a role and as back-up strikers go, he’d be a sound choice.
Yet there is scepticism over how he would truly fare in the top flight long term given his sporadic scoring periods. One goal in six games at a crunch part of the season when your team is going for promotion does not instil faith for a potential top tier campaign.
Interestingly, Farke’s praise of Piroe has always included a discreet caveat. He’s the best finisher in “this division”. He’s proven himself at “this level”.
It seems clear United need a marquee centre-forward in the summer should they go up. Piroe still has time to show how much strengthening the role will need, in that perhaps only one new striker will be enough and not more.
The forward has eight games to score five goals and hit the 20-mark by the end of the season. That would denote a more promising rate of fire and show doubters that he can play more than a bit-part role upon a promotion.
This all might sound dramatic but last season’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics, who netted 27 times, has scored just four Premier League goals in 19 games for Ipswich Town. Crysencio Summerville, who tallied 19, has one goal in 19 top flight games at West Ham United.
Play-off heartbreaker Adam Armstrong netted 21 goals but returned back to the Championship with West Bromwich Albion six months after that day at Wembley. The Premier League is brutal and unforgiving.
Just ask Van Nistelrooy. Leicester had the strongest Championship squad last season yet are bound for a return to the second tier.
It could be that Piroe is the one competing in the Premier League next season with Van Nistelrooy elsewhere. In the meantime, Piroe needs to utilise the skills the Dutch great taught him six years ago to send a message.