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2 reasons why Leeds United are making the right call with 20-year-old’s mid-term future after Thursday update

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It seems that Leeds United centre back Charlie Cresswell will be going nowhere in the January transfer window.

That’s after a report from Football Insider on Thursday claimed that the Premier League side will not be recalling the 20-year-old from his loan spell with Millwall at the turn of the year.

Cresswell joined the Championship side on loan in the summer, but a spell out of the matchday squad had led to some suggestions that Leeds could recall the defender in January.

Now however, it appears that will not be the case, with this latest update claiming that the centre back is set to see out the season at The Den.

Here, we’ve taken a look at two reasons why Leeds’ decision to keep Cresswell at Millwall for the remainder of the season, is the right one.

Game Time

The main reason that Cresswell will have been sent to Millwall, is to experience the challenges of regular first-team football, and on the whole, he is getting the chance to do that.

Despite that spell out of the matchday squad, Cresswell has still featured in 14 of Millwall’s 20 league games so far this season, starting in 12 of those, meaning he is still getting plenty of opportunities to learn and develop in senior football.

Indeed, with Leeds holding several more established options in central defence such as Robin Koch, Pascal Struijk, Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente, it is hard to imagine a return to Elland Road, would provide him with more first-team game time.

A positive environment

You also get the feeling that in the circumstances, Cresswell ought to be rather enjoying his time at Millwall.

As things stand, Gary Rowett’s side are currently sixth in the Championship table, just seven point adrift of the automatic promotion places, with a game in hand, so the Leeds defender will be learning a fair amount about competing for big honours.

It also means that with things going well, the mood around the club will surely be a positive one, and may mean that Cresswell will be somewhat disappointed, if he is not able to see that promotion push all the way through to the end of the campaign, something Leeds may well be keen to respect with this decision.

Should Leeds recall Cresswell in January?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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UCLan Sports Journalism graduate. Have been working for Leeds All Over since summer 2020, and can only be found writing on Football League World.