da aposte e ganhe： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
da realbet： Leeds’ squad might be thin but that hasn’t stopped some fierce battles playing out in terms of roles within the team.
Eddie Nketiah and Patrick Bamford have a rivalry of sorts that’s seen them score the same number of goals, but the former is yet to start a league game.
There’s been a dilemma with Helder Costa on the wing while Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling now look as though they’ll duel it out for a place at right-back.
That sort of competition is tough to take for a senior professional, let alone a youngster trying to make it in the game as well.
Mateusz Bogusz is one of the rising stars in the Leeds team who have so far found it hard to come by regular minutes.
He earned his debut earlier in the season but has been restricted to Carabao Cup appearances, still failing to make his league bow after appearing on the bench last term.
The young Pole played senior football in his homeland but that’s been a rare occurrence since arriving in west Yorkshire.
His development hasn’t overly stalled yet but it could in the future unless he gains greater exposure.
Bogusz has been a regular fixture of the U23 side but even now injuries have plagued the Leeds midfield with Pablo Hernandez, Adam Forshaw and Jamie Shackleton missing, there is no way through.
The fact Bielsa prefers to play Dallas out of position in midfield should be alarming.
The young midfielder has plenty of time on his side at the age of 18 but it’s perhaps rather damning that neither he or any of the younger pros got a look in ahead of the Northern Irishman in the middle.
It’s not as though Bogusz hasn’t shown he can do it on the first team stage either. He scored against Western Sydney Wanderers in pre-season but hasn’t been granted too much of an opportunity since.
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If there is no way through now, there is unlikely to be a route to gaining greater minutes later in the term.
It suggests that for him to continue to develop and not falter, he needs a loan move elsewhere.
Whether that is a possibility remains unclear but given Leeds have just hired Simone Farine to manage their loan players, he could be one of the first to truly profit from this increased focus on who leaves the club temporarily.
In January, Bogusz will have been in England for a year – there would be no better time to finally gain first-team minutes.