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Some good news out of Leeds United training camp today, as one of the players that seemed to be on the “edge” and training with the U23s looks to be moving into the “core” group of players that Bielsa seems to be working with more. Yosuke Ideguchi had been training with the U23s, along with Mateusz Klich and Laurens De Bock.
was with the 23s last week and sounds like he’s be in with the main group this week.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) July 3, 2018
Ideguchi has seemed to move from the U23s as a “fringe” player and looks to be with the main group this week according to Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Phil Hay. This bodes well for the Japanese international who was one of the final cuts to the Japan World Cup squad that was eliminated in the round of 16 in heartbreaking fashion by Belgium.
Please give everybody time. He's going to be a great player, but don't forget that Ideguchi is only 21 and he needs time to get used to absolutely everything in his new life.
— Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa English (@CyDLeonesa_en) February 11, 2018
After an ill-fated loan-spell at Cultural Leonesa in Spain, Ideguchi will be wanting to put his best foot forward during preseason. As a highly regarded prospect from Japan, the 21 year-old was introduced during the January transfer window to a lot of fanfare, but he was sent on loan to the Segunda division in Spain to spend time with Cultural Leonesa. The reason he was sent on loan to Cultural was allegedly to get him acclimated to European football and make sure he had plenty of playing time in order to make the World Cup squad for Japan.
Short report of Ideguchi. Lost in translation. The guy tries his best but he's galaxies away from the team. He started but got subbed off at half-time. He needs time and that's something we don't have at the moment.
— Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa English (@CyDLeonesa_en) February 18, 2018
However, Ideguchi failed to impress during his time at Cultural, and instead of making an impact in Spain, he spent almost the entire time on the bench while the manager used his more experienced veterans in central midfield in a relegation battle that Cultural ended up losing.
Perhaps the stability of a club not in desperate form to avoid the drop, along with the benefit of a full preseason and some assistance in the language will result in better results for Ideguchi and Leeds. The signing of him from Gamba Osaka was seen as a big deal when it was officially announced, let’s hope he lives up to the hype.