So many new heroes at Elland Road this campaign have been unearthed by Daniel Farke, with faces such as Georginio Rutter and Daniel James – who were once scapegoats when Leeds United were struggling – dazzling in the Championship this season.
It’s resulted in Leeds looking like hot favourites to bounce straight back up to the Premier League at the first time of asking, fending off Ipswich Town and Southampton on their tails for the time being to keep their grip firmly on that coveted second automatic promotion spot.
Yet, although everything is currently rosey at an initial scan, Farke will have to soon embrace some awkward conversations with those whose contracts are running out in West Yorkshire.
Leeds could wave goodbye to once highly regarded young gem in the process, allowing the midfielder in question – who was tipped to be a successor to Kalvin Phillips – to walk out of the door as a free agent.
What was first said when Lewis Bate signed for Leeds
Lewis Bate would join the Leeds ranks as a wide-eyed youngster from the illustrious Chelsea youth set-up, with Bate even going on to make the bench for the Blues a number of times before moving on.
Still, in 2021, the hot prospect would decide leave the comforts of Stamford Bridge behind for a new challenge in Leeds.
It wasn’t going to be a cheap deal to get over the line from a Whites perspective however, with the reported fee to win Bate’s services coming in at a substantial £1.5m which looked hefty at the time considering his lack of real minutes in the senior game.
The media would instantly hype Bate up as being a potential natural long-term successor to Phillips’ throne at Elland Road, an unrealistic tag for a young gem to live up to off the back of making 58 Chelsea youth appearances before relocating.
Reporting on the initial move, Leeds Live’s Joe Donnohue described him as the “truest Kalvin Phillips successor” out there.
Making the jump up in quality would prove to be a difficult one for Bate, however. To date, he has only made five Leeds first-team appearances with many of his minutes reserved to featuring for the U21s.
For a player once described as being able to “thread it through the needle” with his passing range by ex-Leeds icon Marcelo Bielsa when the Argentine boss still occupied the dug-out, Bate has never been able to live up to the lofty expectations on his shoulders from the minute he entered the fray.
The now 21-year-old midfielder has been able to show glimpses of his quality at Leeds here and there, coming away from a 45-minute cameo against Arsenal in 2022 with 16 accurate passes managed, but the door now looks very much open for Bate to permanently exit Elland Road at the end of this current campaign.
He’s not been helped by the electric form of Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara bossing proceedings in the Championship this season, filling the void left behind by Phillips in their stride more confidently than the forgotten 5 foot 8 man has ever managed.
Lewis Bate’s time out on loan away from Leeds
Stating in a revealing interview recently that Farke’s emergence as the new Leeds manager made things even more “tough” for his first-team minutes, Bate has had to drop down to League Two with Milton Keynes Dons this season on loan to try and excel away from the shackles of Elland Road.
| Lewis Bate’s numbers for MK Dons this season | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Minutes played per game | 71 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Successful passes per game | 52.5 (90%) |
| Tackles per game | 1.5 |
| Balls recovered per game | 5.2 |
| Stats by Sofascore | |
Bate has shown his class for MK Dons as Mike Williamson’s men aim to win promotion up to League One, coming away from a recent big 2-1 win against automatic promotion rivals Mansfield Town with three key passes notched up, but it just doesn’t look as if it will be enough for the former £1.5m buy to be kept around at Leeds past the summer.
With Bate staggeringly revealing that the Whites boss doesn’t “like him” in that same tell-all interview, it would not be a surprise to see Bate allowed to exit the Championship giants for nothing now this summer when his contract expires.
It would be a disappointing end to the former Chelsea wonderkid’s time with the West Yorkshire titans after so much was expected of him on his arrival three years ago.
Lewis Bate’s future at Leeds
Bate isn’t the only presence on the fringes at Leeds who has their future hanging in the balance, with more experienced faces such as Sam Byram and Liam Cooper also fearing what will happen when their contracts come to an abrupt end this June alongside the 21-year-old.
Ian Poveda has already been revealed as one Whites man on the periphery who won’t be kept on past this season, with Bate’s fate of being homeless almost expected at this point alongside other forgotten faces in Brenden Aaronson, Diego Llorente and more.
Bate will take some comfort in the fact he has become a fan’s favourite at Stadium MK, but there must be some bitterness on his end that he never was able to make the grade at Leeds.
Farke and Co will more than be able to cope when Bate is moved on, knowing that both Gruev and Kamara are dependable anchors in the Whites first team alongside Archie Gray and Ethan Ampadu being able to fill in here when necessary.
Whilst Gray has flourished beyond anyone’s wildest expectations in Leeds quarters as another starlet tipped for big things, with Gareth Southgate even talking up his chances in the England senior ranks, it looks as if Bate will be chucked to the scrap heap when this season is up as a youngster who was never able to live up to his wild hype.
Farke could well live to rue getting rid of their fringe man who once cost them £1.5m for free if he goes on to prove those wrong, but it feels the kindest thing to do now to let him leave instead of drawing out the failed move for any longer.
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