BBC Sport names ‘wonderful’ Leeds teenager as one of 5 young English footballers to watch out for

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Leeds United youngster Darko Gyabi has made BBC Sport‘s list of five young English footballers to watch out for.

The Whites snapped up the 18-year-old from Manchester City’s academy this summer.

Leeds manager Jesse Marsch included Gyabi in his travelling squad for their pre-season tour of Australia.

The midfielder then made the Leeds bench for their Premier League season opener against Wolves.

Gyabi has also made two Premier League 2 appearances for the Elland Road side’s Under-21s.

On Friday, BBC Sport’s website followed up on five youngsters who previously featured on Wonderkids.

The YouTube series, working in collaboration with Rising Ballers, has showcased some exciting men’s and women’s talent from clubs around England.

“BBC Sport first featured 18-year-old midfielder Gyabi in September 2020, when he was part of Manchester’s City’s academy,” they wrote of the Leeds gem.

“After being part of the young City squad that won the Premier League 2 trophy last season, Gyabi earned a transfer to Leeds United in July, for a fee reported to be around £5m.

“With Kalvin Phillips heading in the opposite direction down the M62, there could be an opportunity for the youngster to get quite involved at Leeds.

“Gyabi operates in different areas of the midfield and has 12 caps for England at youth level.

“After coming to the UK from Ghana with his mother, he grew up in South London and was previously at Millwall’s academy.”

“Probably the most well-rounded midfield player I’ve ever worked with”

As news broke of Gyabi’s move to Leeds, Harry Brooks – who previously coached Gyabi – took to Twitter to congratulate the Whites on landing the player.

The Yorkshire Evening Post then interviewed Brooks, who went into more detail about Gyabi’s talent and style of play.

“He has the natural ability, he has the mindset of being very confident but also humble with it,” Brooks told The YEP.

“So he has what the best players need – they’re very assured of themselves, but they don’t have to prove themselves.

“It’s in their demeanour, it’s how they behave, it’s how they walk, how they talk.

“It’s not cocky, but they know ‘I’m a player’ and then, when you have that mindset, and they have this ability, this profile to match, it ticks so many boxes.

“As a number eight, probably the most well-rounded midfield player I’ve ever worked with, because he is incredibly athletic.

“He has that long stride to gallop away from people, very strong and can hold the ball up, he’s got an engine, he’s got quick feet, good foot patterns, but he also has silk to his game.

“He has beautiful technique, he can brush his passes, he can ping passes, shift the ball off both feet.

“And he’s got really good creative instincts as well. He can receive the ball and, all of a sudden, do a turn away from someone that no-one saw coming and then reverse a pass somewhere.

“There’s not really a set-up or a team and a style that he couldn’t play for.”