It has not taken long for one of the biggest names on Leeds United’s list of released players to find themselves a new club.
Leeds issued their retained list two weeks ago now and there really wasn’t a great deal of surprises on there, with Sam Byram triggering an automatic one-year extension the headline news.
Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton were also confirmed to be in talks over new deals, though it would appear nothing has yet been agreed with either. The former is away at EURO 2024 with Scotland.
Perhaps the biggest surprise on the list was seeing Cody Drameh offered fresh terms, though Leeds are not expecting him to sign it. Instead, it was purely done to ensure they receive compensation when he joins another club.
Lewis Bate and Ian Poveda were arguably the two main players let go by Leeds for nothing considering their first team involvement in previous campaigns.
Cresswell and Cooper react as Lewis Bate seals quick transfer
Despite neither being able to force their way into Daniel Farke‘s plans, it is no surprise both players are not taking long to find themselves new clubs.
Poveda is still yet to have his next move officially confirmed, but is certainly not short of interest. He is in talks over a return to Sheffield Wednesday, while other clubs from the Championship and Ligue 1 are keen.
Bate, meanwhile, has already found himself a decent new club for next season. He spent the second half of the 2023/24 campaign on loan at MK Dons, with it quickly becoming clear he was too good for League Two.
With that in mind, Bate has been able to secure himself a move to one of the newly promoted sides in the third tier in Stockport County, who are currently on a real upward trajectory as a club.
Bate has played and impressed at that level before with Oxford United, and so going there with even more senior experience under his belt should give him the platform he needs to really kick start his career.
The 21-year-old posted on Instagram on Thursday evening after sealing his move across the Pennines, with Charlie Cresswell and Cooper just some of the names quick to congratulate him.
Leeds arguably missed a trick with Bate development
Given the level of both his loan moves and now this, it is clear that Bate is not quite ready for Championship football at this stage of his career.
However, that may be down to how Leeds handled his development as appose to the natural ability he has at his disposal.
Aside from the game in which he started against his former club Chelsea, where he looked out of his depth physically, Bate never looked out of place whenever he played for Leeds.
With that in mind, Leeds really should have been more progressive in how they loaned him out. The next logical step after Oxford should’ve been either a top end League One side, or bottom level Championship.
Instead he was made to sit around in the U21s for another five months, before then ending up in League Two. It would be no surprise if this move to Stockport is the beginning of him climbing up the divisions.