Rarely-seen player set to depart Leeds United this summer | OneFootball

Leeds United's Lewis Bate missed the final part of the season on loan at Oxford United, after breaking a bone in his hand, but impressed during his spell with the club.

The 20-year-old managed to play 35 times for Oxford, with four assists and a goal to his name as well in that spell.

With Leeds now relegated from the Premier League, the possibility has opened up for Bate to receive more first-team minutes at Elland Road.

Since his arrival from Chelsea in 2021, Bate has played just four senior games for the Whites, with the majority of his action coming at Under-21 level in their development squad.

Although the second tier is obviously a step up from League One, Oxford have been languishing at the wrong end of the division, yet Bate managed to prove himself to be one of the best midfielders in the division in that time, and should be a level above League One at this stage.

Phil Hay of The Athletic is reporting that Bate is not currently in Leeds' plans, he said: "Injury ended his loan at Oxford United of League One early in March and the 20-year-old is a long way from the Leeds first-team picture."

Due to that, he is set to depart. Bate has only one year remaining on his current deal at Elland Road as well, Hay added: "He’s set to move out again, either temporarily once more or in a permanent transfer."

Should Leeds keep Bate?

Leeds should be giving far more regular game time to Bate next season, even if they are mostly just minutes from the bench to begin with.

Whether he is good enough to start regularly for a team vying for automatic promotion is unclear, but at the very least he should be used as a rotation option in midfield.

Leeds will likely sign at least one or two midfielders this summer, but the 20-year-old England youth international should still be high enough on the pecking order to receive important senior development minutes.

A loan would be a waste of time for him unless it is to another Championship team, and his ceiling as a player is too high to be considering a sale of any kind yet.