This midfielder has to follow Darko Gyabi out of Leeds United on different terms: View | OneFootball

Highlights

For all of Leeds United's current good form in the Championship, with plenty of Championship proven talents and younger players getting their chances, there is another level of player among the club's squad that need to go out and get regular football.

Daniel Farke has kept a pretty settled starting 11 and backup options that he occasionally rotates in and out, and that has left the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell - players who have featured in the Premier League for the Whites - itching for game-time.

For now, it looks as though that particular pair will be kept around for squad depth even though they are not playing matches, but there is another group of players currently in the under-21's that aren't close to featuring under Farke and could do with the minutes in men's football.

One of those - Darko Gyabi - is just 19 years of age but after a £5 million move from Man City a year-and-a-half ago, he is now poised to get his first dose of regular football with Plymouth Argyle, who are a divisional rival of Leeds.

A player who is even further behind Gyabi in the pecking order though is Lewis Bate, who will now surely be considering his future at Leeds in the final few weeks of the transfer window.

Bate should be pushing for Leeds United exit in January

Back in the summer of 2021, Leeds were investing in their under-21's as well as their first-team, and the arrival of Bate was seen as a coup as he was a regular at that level for Chelsea.

The £1.5 million spent on bringing Bate to Elland Road as an 18-year-old was further evidence that Leeds saw something in the central midfielder as part of their long-term future, but it hasn't exactly worked out as well as hoped.

Bate actually played four times for Leeds in the Premier League and FA Cup in his debut year at the club after his performances for the under-21's saw him called up, but the decision was made for his second year that he would be loaned out to Oxford United of League One for regular minutes.

35 games were played by Bate for the U's before his season was cut short due to a broken bone in his hand, but he certainly impressed at the Kassam Stadium, and after playing in pre-season against the likes of Man United, the midfielder was in the matchday squad for the first few games of the Championship season under Farke.

That would soon come to an end though when the signings of Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev were confirmed, and so far this season, Bate's game-time has come to a total of an EFL Cup cameo against Shrewsbury Town and five starts for the under-21's in the Premier League 2.

Now with less than six months on his contract at Leeds though, Bate ought to be thinking about his long-term future and it being away from Elland Road, given he's dropped significantly down the pecking order and he needs to get first-team football at this stage of his career.

League One could be good landing spot for Bate

Not 22 until October, Bate has a fair amount of potential still to fulfil, and there's no reason why he can't do that at another club.

First-team football is what the midfield playmaker needs, and you could argue that a club in the lower reaches of the Championship - say a Rotherham United or a Queens Park Rangers, could benefit from his skill-set.

It is more likely however that if Bate is going to stay in England, then clubs at the top end of League One ought to be taking a look at him in regards to a permanent addition as he could be a player that makes a team a big profit in a couple of years time.

Bate showed flashes of his quality at that level for Oxford last season, but a Peterborough, a Bolton Wanderers, a Portsmouth or a top team like that could really stand to earn a lot if they take a chance on Bate and he goes on to prove a quality addition.

Of course, Bate could see out his contract at Leeds and no move will be made until the summer, but it may be in Leeds' best interests to sell now with a sell-on clause inserted in case he does come good - of which there is every chance.