Leeds United forward at centre of fitness mystery after being left out of national team squad
Leeds United striker Mateo Joseph sat out Spain's Under-21 European Championships qualifier against Malta on Tuesday evening, days on from scoring a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan.
The Leeds attacker was pictured in training with Santi Denia's squad in the build-up to Tuesday's dead rubber fixture and appeared to be without issue.
U21s boss Denia was asked during a press conference on Monday afternoon whether he planned to make changes to his squad, perhaps including some of the younger players on his roster, responding that all players were 'available' and up for selection.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, Joseph's name was absent from the Spanish teamsheet.
A possible explanation for Joseph's omission is Denia's decision to rotate his squad, given that Spain have already qualified for next summer's tournament, whilst the options at his disposal are vastly superior to their Maltese opposition. The head coach made 11 changes for Spain’s game versus Malta U21 and with only nine available spots on the substitutes’ bench, three members of Denia’s squad are required to to sit out, Joseph among them.
Another possibility is that Spain have obliged a hypothetical request made by Leeds to limit the youngster's minutes, given his increased involvement at the beginning of this season compared to previous campaigns. The striker is a hard-running, pressing forward and was rested from the start during Leeds' last Championship fixture against Sunderland.
The 20-year-old also conducted media duties with Spanish outlet OK Diario following Monday’s training session, suggesting he has merely been rested.
Last season, Daniel Farke repeatedly drew attention to the fact fellow young attacker Crysencio Summerville's workload needed to be managed carefully given it was his first full season as a regular starter at Championship level and the intensity which comes with that status.
Leeds supporters are currently hyper-aware of any possible injury problem befalling Farke's squad following the double blow to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, which will see the pair miss a number of months with separate knee injuries.
At this stage, it is not suggested Joseph has sustained an injury in training, although that is yet to be confirmed by Leeds United.