Leeds United striker Mateo Joseph will be looking to continue the momentum of his fine start to the season into Spain U21s.
After many calls towards the end of last season for Joseph to be handed a proper opportunity in the first team, he has finally established himself as Leeds’ starting nine.
Joseph has started all four league matches so far and just looks to be getting more and more comfortable in each of them, finally getting off the mark against Hull City.
The week prior, Joseph was handed the man of the match award by Sky Sports in the 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday, where he provided both assists, the second of which was sublime.
The 20-year-old has undoubtedly been one of Leeds’ best performers across the opening four matches and his international call-up is just reward.
Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen praises Leeds star Joseph
After representing England U20s at the World Cup in 2023, Joseph opted to pledge his allegiance to Spain earlier this year.
He was then rewarded with a call-up at the last international break in March, and took just 50 minutes of action to open his account for Spain.
Joseph will be playing alongside a number of big names over the coming days for Spain, with Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi, former £35 million Chelsea target Samuel Omorodion and new £12.6 million Bournemouth signing Dean Huijsen among them.
Mateo Joseph, el hijo de la heladera del Sardinero que siempre soñó con España: “Los jóvenes ven a Laminen o Cubarsí y quieren correr”.
🗣️ “El Racing es lo más grande que hay en Cantabria”.
🤣 Anécdota con Huijsen al final del texto.
Todo en @relevo https://t.co/ZxeNV1eNAW
— Jonathan Ramos (@JoniRamos) September 6, 2024
As a result of his fine start to the season, Joseph has conducted an interview with journalist Jonathan Ramos this week, which Huijsen decided to gatecrash.
While doing so, Huijsen is jokingly said to have blurted out, ‘Leeds‘ MVP’ when Joseph was answering a question.
Clearly his performances at Elland Road are not going unnoticed by those who know him well, which can only be even more of a confidence boost for him.
When is Joseph in action for Spain U21s?
Joseph and the rest of his Spanish teammates will play the first of two matches over the break just north of the border in Scotland.
That game will take place tonight at 19:00 BST, and is very important towards Spain’s hopes of qualifying for the European Championships next summer, with Scotland one place and three points behind.
Spain’s second fixture then comes away in Hungary at 16:45 BST on Tuesday, but whether Joseph is a starter in either remains to be seen.
Joseph is competing for a place up front against the aforementioned Omorodion, who has significantly more top-flight experience than the Leeds star. All Leeds will be hoping is he comes back uninjured, anyway.
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