Jesse Marsch is delighted with the progress Leeds United’s Cody Drameh has made of late, but he hasn’t ruled out a move before the window closes next week. Drameh made his first senior appearance of the season on Wednesday night as he started for the Whites in their Carabao Cup win over Barnsley at Elland Road.
He looked the part against the League One Tykes and won praise for his performance, but it remains to be seen whether he has done enough to secure more regular game time in West Yorkshire. Drameh spent the second half of last season on loan with Championship outfit Cardiff City and won the club’s player of the year award due to his form and efforts under Steve Morison.
As such, he began pre-season with Leeds with the target of securing a spot with his parent club. The signing of Rasmus Kristensen hasn’t helped his position in the pecking order and neither will the imminent return of vice-captain Luke Ayling, but Marsch has been pleased with what he has seen from the 20-year-old.
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“I think he's doing great,” Marsch said ahead of this weekend’s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion. “Cody and I had some tough conversations at the end of last year when we had him in for training.
"I think he had a very good experience at Cardiff and in his mind, maybe wanted to stay there. I challenged him to think about challenging himself to be here. It was really good that he got games, that he was playing well and I watched not every game but I got highlights of most of his games and I watched a lot of his actions.
“I think over time he's enjoyed being here and I think in there he has played good football and I think with him, they kind of go hand in hand. The key for him is to not need the enjoyment and need more of the drive to be the best that he can possibly be and get out of his comfort zone, which he did by going to Cardiff, but challenge himself at a high level to really maximise who he can be every day. I think he's done that in a big way.”
Marsch admits there is a degree of uncertainty about the next week, though, with just less than one week remaining until transfer deadline day on September 1.
“I've seen him grow a lot in the last weeks,” he added. “I think he's performed well within the team. I think he's fit well within the team. What happens with him going forward, I think it's not totally solidified one way or the other quite yet.
“The window is still open. I think he knows he wants to play games and that's important for him but we also value having him here. So we'll see how that next week goes and exactly what comes out of it but I can just say that in the moment. I think he's fully a part of our team in our club and he has a big future here.”
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