Leeds United youngster labelled 'special' by international boss ahead of potential senior debut

Wales manager Rob Page insists it made sense to expose Leeds United’s Charlie Crew to the Wales first-team given the abundance of talent he possesses. Crew received a surprise first call-up by Wales last week and the 17-year-old could make his international debut on Thursday when Page's side take on Gibraltar.

The midfielder is no stranger to the Welsh set-up, having represented his country at almost every age level from Under-15s to U21s, with Crew earning his first call-up to the latter earlier this season. Of course, Crew is still waiting to make a senior debut for Leeds with his game time at club level being limited to youth team games.

However, he has spent time around the first-team picture under Daniel Farke at Thorp Arch this season and he featured on the bench on three occasions, with the German following the 17-year-old's progress closely. Page is also keen to take a closer look at the youngster and Wales' failure to secure qualification for Euro 2024 gives him that opportunity.

“He has loads of potential and that is the key. That is the word for it at the minute," Page said when speaking about Crew, who joined Leeds from Cardiff City in 2022. “I want to have a look at him first-hand. I want to work with him and train with him. I have had reports from Mattie Jones and Rich Williams (Wales U21s coaches) about him.

“Physically we need to be patient and wait for him to develop, but with regards to his football ability he is special.”

He added: "He is a player. We are all disappointed we did not qualify for the Euros. So would he have been selected for the squad to go to the Euros? Probably not, I would have allowed him to develop nicely with the younger age groups

"But now the potential he has shown at Leeds, being involved with that group of players and listening to the manager and how he speaks about him and having seen him myself... he has talent in abundance. I am taking him away with us to expose him to the first-team lads and the culture, and he will be better for that in the next few weeks.”

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Crew, who is joined in the Wales squad by familiar faces Ethan Ampadu, Dan James, Connor Roberts and Joe Rodon, wasn't the only youngster called up to the senior Wales squad with Lewis Koumas of Liverpool and Brentford's Fin Stevens making the step up, too. They will have the opportunity to make their international debut this Thursday (June 6) against Gibraltar in Faro, Portugal before Page takes his side to Trnava for a friendly clash against Slovakia on June 9.

“I will always give the kids an opportunity,” Page added. “We want to continue to do that, I want the lads to be pushed and the lads mentioned have done that at club level. They have done it because they tick a lot of boxes.

“They obviously train at the right intensity, they work hard and they have an abundance of ability. So I am looking forward to working with them.”