By Mark Smith

8th Mar, 2022 | 12:30pm

Leeds United: Young talents have already benefited from exit of Marcelo Bielsa

Leeds United have been through the works over the past week, with Marcelo Bielsa moving on and being replaced by Jesse Marsch at Elland Road.

Immediate reactions could have seen academy players panic at Thorp Arch, with their chances of first-team action potentially being drained by the American.

That isn’t the case, and it looks as though some of the wonderkids in West Yorkshire have actually benefited from El Loco being moved on by the club.

Mark Jackson has been promoted to the first-team, with his former assistant, Andy Taylor taking over and he confirmed a real boost for some players this week.

A more traditional model has already been introduced, meaning players such as Joe Gelhardt, Charlie Cresswell and Sam Greenwood are now deemed as first-team options only.

Speaking to Leeds Live this week, Taylor said: “I think we’ll probably see a little bit more of a traditional model, that’s my initial view – in terms of: if they’re playing in the U23s, they’re in the U23s.”

Chance.

So, with Taylor admitting the new outlook of the academy, it looks as though the likes of Gelhardt are really going to benefit from the arrival of Marsch.

The American brought the striker off the bench at Leicester over the weekend, and the likes of Cresswell and Crysencio Summerville will be given fresh hope to push on.

Yes, they were given chances under Bielsa, but he often sent them back to the under-23s on a weekly basis, meaning their inclusion in the matchday squad often meant nothing.

Now, they have been given that extra responsibility and it looks as though they will be part of a bigger squad moving forward at Elland Road in this new era.

In other Football Wonderkids news, Manchester United talent Zidane Iqbal is now in a position of unique pressure