Leeds United forward Mateo Joseph made his intentions clear to leave the club on loan during the summer, but after a slow start, he’s finally off the mark.
A core weakness of Leeds’ current fight to stay in the Premier League is the lack of goals and creativity in the final third under Daniel Farke.
Investment was lacklustre to say the least in August, while free transfer Dominic Calvert-Lewin sits on one goal so far despite encouraging performances.
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Mateo Joseph breaks Mallorca duck with well-taken brace this weekend
United’s shift in attack also saw players leave the club. Mateo Joseph seemingly refused to travel with the club for pre-season and therefore was pushing for a loan exit.
La Liga sides were queuing up, with Mallorca winning the race. The Spaniard’s start to life was rough, though, seeing Mallorca drop to the foot of the table as his goal drought persisted.
Mateo Joseph needs to succeed on loan from Leeds United at Mallorca. (REUTERS/Francisco Ubilla)
Joseph had notched two assists prior to the weekend. However, he finally found the net on Saturday as two good finishes helped Mallorca to win 3-1 away at Sevilla.
Starting on the bench, Joseph fired Mallorca into a 2-1 lead, arriving onto Johan Mujica’s cross to finish well. Joseph then sealed the win by racing onto a long ball and slotting into the bottom corner with a very composed finish on his left foot.
It’s been a long time coming for Joseph to find the back of the net at club level. His last club came in the 7-0 thrashing of Cardiff City back in February. Ironically, that was a virtually-identical finish to his first on Saturday.
His manager Jagoba Arrasate is delighted for what is sure to be a huge confidence booster for Joseph. Speaking after the match, the Mallorca boss noted Joseph’s hard work behind the scenes to get off the mark.
“He’s working hard to improve. He always stays at the end of training to improve his finishing, which makes me very happy. The victory comes at a crucial time, and we’re also happy with how it turned out.”
A change of formation is now being considered, per Estadio Deportivo, to bring Joseph back into the lineup after wowing Arrasate. Top scorer Vedat Muriqi had taken that spot recently, the scorer of their equaliser against Sevilla, his fifth of the campaign.
Leeds United need Mateo Joseph’s form to hit brilliant heights at Mallorca
Fans were justified for being quite annoyed at Joseph for the manner of his exit in the summer. There’s ways to go about wanting to leave, and that wasn’t the best.
That being said, it’s in our interests to see Joseph have the best loan possible this season. He’s one of our most valuable young assets and two things could happen this summer:
- We reintegrate him as someone who looks much more mature as a striker
- We look to cash in for an increased fee, relative to what we could have got after promotion
Either scenario requires Joseph to have a very good loan spell. There’s an expectation that he comes of age during his time in La Liga. Two goals might be all he needs, and his four goal contributions is better than any current Leeds player.
He took them both incredibly well. And, you can see from the good and bad of his performances last season that he’s very much a confidence-reliant striker.
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