Charlie Crew, a Leeds United teenager, is expected to be nominated to Matty Jones’ newest Wales Under-21 squad ahead of the international break this month.
The 17-year-old Leeds midfielder has overcome a minor injury to join ex-United star Jones’ squad for the country’s UEFA EURO Under-21 qualifying match against Lithuania. Wales is joint-top of their qualification group, having gained eight points from five matches thus far, while Lithuania is at the bottom of Group I, having failed to win a game this qualification cycle. Crew has three Under-21 caps, having made his debut at the level immediately below senior international football at the start of this season, just after turning 17.
It has been suggested that the adolescent was the anonymous Leeds youngster mentioned by Daniel Farke in a recent news conference, when the first-team manager indicated that he had been pleased by one youngster in particular. The YEP also learns that Crew was slated to participate in first-team training before being ruled out due to a minor injury. Despite the fact that he will not turn 18 until this summer, he is expected to be named for Wales’ U21 squad. Wales are said to be interested in captying the ex-Cardiff City youth, who is also eligible to represent England internationally.
“I think it’s ended,” Jones remarked late last year, alluding to England’s pursuit of the Leeds teenager. “Through our conversations with Charlie, we were aware of our action plan, which he supported in terms of spending time with the Under-19s, and he dominated with his performances.
“He felt he’d always be rewarded with that since we’d created a path for Charlie and believed in his abilities. “Having that conversation with him and his family has hopefully helped him to make the right decision,” Jones said.
Leeds quartet Joe Rodon, Connor Roberts, Ethan Ampadu, and Dan James have all been named to Wales’ senior team to face Finland – and maybe Poland or Estonia – in the EURO 2024 play-offs. James and Ampadu are set to earn their 50th caps for the nation when they face Finland.
