Leeds United have strengthened their academy with the signing of teenage midfielder Lewis Bate from Chelsea.
The high-ranking 18-year-old has sealed a £ 1.5 million move to Elland Road as he looks to accelerate his journey to senior football, and Marcelo Bielsa was one of many managers who want to give him what he wants.
Leeds were too happy to win the race for Bate, and here’s why.
Bates bread and butter pass. From the first whistle to the last, he wants the ball at his feet and focuses only on spraying passes.
With both feet, Bate excels at both short and long passes and is often his team’s top tempo setter from deep in midfield, although he can do much more if needed.
Sometimes he will be asked to sit back and pull the strings in the kind of role Jorginho excelled at in Euro 2020, and talk about it …
It was suggested that one of England’s problems in major tournaments is their lack of deep-seated players, with English midfielders struggling to find the delicate mix between aggressive defense and expert passing.
However, Bate has impressed with his knowledge of both crafts, which led recruitment expert Connor Rowden to describe Bate as ‘non-English’ in an interview with Leeds Live.
Bate’s combination of passing and defensive awareness has even seen him compare to Kalvin Phillips by many happy Leeds fans.
Bate has been lovingly compared to Seedorf / Etsuo Hara / Getty Images
Bates’ do-it-all style of play has seen him affectionately called ‘The Sidcup Seedorf’ because of comparisons to the Dutch icon Clarence.
It’s not a perfect comparison – we’ve all seen how jacked Seedorf is this day – but Bate shares the Dutchman’s way of easily controlling games at both ends of the field without having to steal the headlines.
If he blossoms out to half the player that Seedorf was, Leeds will win.
Bate grew up watching Lampard & Gerrard / Michael Regan / Getty Images
As a young English midfielder, it should come as no surprise to hear that Bate grew up idolizing Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
“There are two people – Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard,” he told the club’s official website.
“Just because I knew they were the best players at their clubs at the time and both English midfielders. I remember seeing Gerrard and seeing him as Liverpool’s captain and captain, while Lampard was the ultimate goal-scoring midfielder. They had it all. . “
One of the first things you will notice about Bate is his frame. He stands at only 5’6 and does not exactly have the body of your stereotypical midfield general.
While he is receptive to being overwhelmed by bigger opponents, Bate gives as well as he gets. The Englishman has been described as a terrier for his determination to take possession at all costs and he is not afraid to resort to the dark arts when needed.
He will never be a dominant powerhouse, but Bate is more than happy to use whatever muscle he has to let opponents know he’s out for a fight.
Bate joined Chelsea at the age of eight, and while he credits the club for helping him develop, he did not hesitate to jump ship when he realized a first-team shot at Stamford Bridge was far away.
The midfielder supports his ability to impress on the senior stage and moved to Leeds because he felt that more opportunities would come there than at Chelsea.
Many Chelsea fans have accused him of having a “weak mentality” because of it, but in reality it is the exact opposite.
Bates’ departure from Chelsea was met with real disappointment as there had been a genuine belief that he was the next youngster to break through the senior line-up.
A regular part of the training under Frank Lampard, Bate is believed to have left a lasting impression on senior stars such as Cesar Azpilicueta and Olivier Giroud, who both bought into the hype surrounding the teenager.
Bate never actually made that breakthrough and instead left Chelsea with just three appearances as an unused replacement.
Chelsea 8 (?????) – 1 Barnsley! ? Our under 18s started their flight campaign in the FA Youth Cup today!
Posted by Chelsea Football Club on Saturday November 28, 2020
Bate is not really known for his impact in front of goal, but that is not to say that he can not raise the ceiling when the moment arises. Just ask Barnsley.
Chelsea’s 8-1 win over Barnsley from November 2020 was a mini-goal for the seasonal competition itself, but Bate stole the show with the eighth goal deep into injury time (around 3:12 in this video highlights).
The ball sank to the ongoing Bate on the edge of the box, and the captain hit home a roaring volley that rose above the box and into the upper corner. You do not stop them.
