Leeds United Loan Watch

Marcelo Bielsa has always been insistent on working with a small squad wherever he has managed throughout his career and his time in charge of Leeds so far has been no different.

Over the summer United fans saw players coming in to Elland Road and players departing. Some high-profile players left the club such as Pontus Jansson and Keemar Roofe during the summer transfer window, leaving the Leeds faithful concerned about how the Whites will cope without two influential players.

Despite the permanent sales, Leeds sent five first team squad members out on loan for the 2019/20 season, lets take a look at how their season’s are going so far.

Laurens De Bock - Sunderland.

The Belgian left back arrived at Elland Road in January 2018 but unfortunately failed to make the cut as first team left back. After heading on loan to Belgian outfit KV Oostende for the 2018/19 season he returned to Leeds this summer, however, did not feature in Bielsa’s plans once again.

A loan move to Greece fell through during the summer window and De Bock found himself remaining in the UK but at the Stadium Of Light. The former Belgian international is on loan at Sunderland for the season as the Black Cats search for a return to the championship.

Sunderland sit in seventh place, one point behind Coventry City who occupy the final play-off position. De Bock has struggled for game time with the Black Cats so far making only six first team appearances in all competitions, however, there has recently been a change in manager at Sunderland with Phil Parkinson replacing Jack Ross. The change in management could be a chance for De Bock to gain a first team spot and get some game time this season.

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Lewie Coyle - Fleetwood Town.

The young right back has come through the ranks at United and has appeared 15 times for the first team. However, in the summer of 2017 he signed a three year deal for the Whites before heading on a season-long loan to Fleetwood Town. Since that initial loan in the summer of 2017, Coyle has spent every season at Fleetwood and is still there now on loan until the 31st of December.

Coyle has been ever-present in the Fleetwood side once again this season, he has appeared 17 times in all competitions this season for Joey Barton’s side and has managed four assists in the process. Fleetwood sit in fifth place in League One in a play off position, Coyle is an integral member of the team so it would not be suprising to see Fleetwood try and extend his loan to the end of the season.

Pawel Cibicki - ADO Den Haag.

The Sweden international attacker joined Leeds in August 2017 from Swedish giants Malmo. Despite a decent spell in the first team in December/January time, Cibicki only made a total of seven appearances for the Whites across all competitions picking up two assists but failing to find the net.

Since the end of his first season in England, the attacker has also been another serial loanee, with loan spells at Norwegian side Molde, Swedish side Elfsborg and now Dutch top flight outfit ADO Den Haag.

Since his move to Holland, Cibicki has been included in the match day squad on eight occasions but has only seen actions three times. He will be hoping to have more game time before the end of the loan spell to try and make an impact in Holland.

Photo by Laurens Lindhout/Soccrates/Getty Images

Conor Shaughnessy - Mansfield Town.

The young Irish defender signed professional terms for the Whites in 2017 and has made 15 first team appearances since then. He was loaned out to Scottish premier league side Hearts in January of this year and returned to Leeds in the summer after 11 appearances north of the border.

Shaughnessy signed a season-long loan deal with League Two side Mansfield Town on the 2nd of September. The centre back has been a regular in the side and has made 11 appearances so far this season picking up two assists for the The Stags.

Despite United being short in the Centre back position, young Shaughnessy is picking up vital first team experience at Mansfield that will stand him in good stead for the future.

Jay-Roy Grot - Vitesse Arnhem.

Still only 21 years old, Grot is genuine prospect for Leeds and his loan spell certainly does not mean the end of his days as a Whites player. The Dutchman who joined from his home country in 2017 had a tough first season at only 19 years old and came under some unfair criticism from fans in what was a dismal season under Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom.

He was loaned out last season to Eridivise side VVV-Venlo and was a regular for them scoring six goals along the way. There was talk over the summer regarding whether Grot would be kept for this season after impressing back in Holland in the previous campaign.

The decision was made to loan Grot out again this season, again in his own country of Holland but this time for Vitesse. Grot has once again, been a regular this season in Holland, racking up 14 appearances in all competitions contributing one goal and one assist. Im sure Leeds are keeping an eye on the young strikers progress to see if there still is a potential future at Elland Road for the youngster.