Leeds United youngster Mateo Joseph has insisted that he was well prepared when Jesse Marsch handed him his first league start last weekend.
The 19-year-old arrived at Elland Road from Espanyol in January. He had to wait until November 9th to make his debut for the Whites in their 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup.
Joseph played the full 90 minutes against Wolves and days later made his league debut in Leeds’ 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Marca had an opportunity to interview the forward, who talked about his emotions when he came on to the pitch against Spurs.
“In the 85th minute I go out to warm up and suddenly the coach tells me ‘Come on, come out.’ I looked at him wide-eyed, changed very quickly and listened to what I had to do when I went out on the field. I wanted to show my abilities, I didn’t get nervous, and I really wanted to show myself,” he said.
The attacker has suggested lack of effort from Espanyol to retain him opened the door for him to join Leeds in the winter 2022 market.
“It was complicated because I went to Barcelona at the age of 13 without my family, leaving many things behind. It was a difficult decision, but we saw that a renewal offer from Espanyol had not arrived and we saw ourselves with options and the sports project of Leeds caught our attention a lot, that was amazing,” Joseph stressed.
“We saw Leeds, that many kids made their debut and stayed in the team and that’s why we went here.”
The teenager’s adaptation to his new life in England has been made easier by several factors, including some of his Leeds teammates.
“I go to train in the morning, when I finish, I do the things in the university, I’m studying business management and I also watch a lot of videos of training sessions and games to see what I’m doing well and improve,” Joseph added.
“It is a noticeable change, I am lucky that my father’s family is from England, and I have not had any complications with the language, since I was young, they have spoken English to me and that takes a load off my mind. And the club is also very familiar, both the club workers and my colleagues welcomed me and took care of me, and those of the first team as well.”
Following his move to England, Joseph was initially included in Leeds United’s U23 squad and then promoted to their senior team. The Premier League side’s plan for his development has pleased him.
“It’s a league of subsidiaries in which you compete against players your age. It allows you to develop better to players of our age, it’s a great idea, you play against great teams,” the player explained.
“Since the end of last season, I knew this was very important, both to return the trust placed in me in January and for me personally. I am very happy because all the work I’ve been doing is being seen and I really want to keep improving.”
