A brace at Chelsea in the FA Cup and rescuing a point with an equaliser with his first touch as a substitute at Watford had many willing for striker Mateo Joseph, 20, to earn his first league start in a Leeds shirt last season.
He was breaking through but not sufficiently enough for manager Daniel Farke to oust either Patrick Bamford or Joel Piroe from the starting line-up for the Spain Under-21 international.
Joseph says he is now more than ready, and some, telling me: “I always work really hard but I have to take this season with all I have. I think it’s going to be my season. I don’t want to sound too confident but I just can’t wait to prove it and for the season to start.”
Since making a seven-minute cameo appearance at the end of the losing Championship play-off final at Wembley against Southampton Joseph says he has had no time to mope.
“I’ve prepared myself for this season like I never did. I haven’t stopped training,” he added.
He is making the sacrifice of not playing for Spain at the Olympics, citing that everything happens for a reason.
“Everything I see I have to improve, I will do it,” he explained.
“Every spare time I have I’ll even read about other players or athletes to learn how to train better or to get better in my style of play. Now in training against players – all defenders – like Pascal (Struijk), Joe (Rodon) and Ethan (Ampadu) you can see you manage better against them.”
The former England Under-20 international, who is from Santander and has an English father and Spanish mother, has now declared his allegiance for the country where he was born. So how did he celebrate his nation’s Euro 2024 victory at training this week?
“The next day I came with my Spain tracksuit on,” he quipped.
“Joffy (Joe Gelhardt) said he would have done the same if England had won. But we’re never going to know.”
Joseph seems to be making strong choices and having no regrets.
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Mateo Joseph,Patrick Bamford,Joel Piroe,Daniel Farke,Joe Gelhardt,Chelsea
