Leeds United certainly knew what they were doing when they sealed the signing of Darko Gyabi from Manchester City 12 months ago. The midfielder’s £5m price tag did not go unnoticed, but he was soon able to make it clear why the club had spent so much money to bring the then 18-year-old to Elland Road.
With his towering frame and silky first touch, Gyabi caught the eye in training and his brief time on the field in Australia after being whisked away on the Whites’ tour Down Under. Then came his first outing on home soil with the club’s U21s as Gyabi was thrown straight into the Whites’ line-up to face Derby County at Pride Park and the gulf in class was immediately apparent.
The Rams couldn’t lay a glove on the midfielder who oozed quality as he ran rings around the home side, helping Leeds to a 5-2 win on the opening day. That outing in Derbyshire was enough to get those in attendance incredibly excited about his potential and it set the tone for what was to come.
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Gyabi made a habit of dominating game after Premier League 2 Division 2 game last season, beating men on the half turn, exploiting space, kick-starting attacks and generally making United tick as they charged to promotion. He didn’t have it all his own way, of course, and he found himself on the receiving end of some roughing up tactics at times as teams singled him out for special treatment, but he emerged unscathed from those battles, more often than not.
His toughest challenge undoubtedly came in the FA Cup third round clash at Cardiff City where Leeds faltered as a collective unit before scraping a draw. He bounced back in perfect fashion, though, by hitting the back of the net with a piledriving goal of the season contender against West Brom U21s at the LNER Community Stadium in York.
A year on from his arrival at Elland Road, then, and it would seem the stage is set for Gyabi to breakthrough into the senior fold. The 19-year-old has taken all he can from playing at youth level and as he begins preparations for his second season in West Yorkshire, it’s clear that he’s ready for the next test in his fledgling career.
That simply has to be stepping up and attempting to establish himself in the Whites’ first-team under Daniel Farke. Given he has been working with the first-team since arriving at the club, it came as no surprise to see Gyabi training under the German’s watchful gaze this week and he’ll know that chances ought to be there to be claimed if he can continue his rapid progression.
United are already severely short of midfield options, meaning he should get the chance to impress next week in the Oslo friendly against Manchester United. Impress against the Red Devils and it is fair to suggest that Gyabi will play some part against Monaco at the end of the following week.
It’s a short pre-season, made shorter by the club’s relegation to the Championship, but Gyabi will have opportunities to prove himself to Farke and he’ll know all about the former Norwich man’s record of bringing through youngsters.
James Maddison, Todd Cantwell and Jamal Lewis are amongst those who have benefited from the backing of Farke in the past and there’s no reason to suggest Gyabi can’t be the next player to join that illustrious list. Of course, Leeds will look to add midfield numbers when the takeover goes through and that will provide the England U20 international with added hurdles to clear.
But, another season playing below the senior level looks counter-productive now for a player at Gyabi’s level. What he needs are senior minutes and on the back of his first season with the club, you wouldn’t bet against him getting plenty of them at Leeds this season.
