Leeds United added another win to their ever-growing Championship tally when overcoming Sheffield Wednesday last Friday night, as both Patrick Bamford and Wilfried Gnonto stole the show with two decisive goals in the 2-0 win.
As much as the attackers for the travelling Whites were firing on all cylinders, so were the defenders for Leeds in the form of Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu who continue to put in colossal displays for the promotion chasers no matter what is thrown at them.
Ampadu would come away with the Man of the Match accolade by his side at full-time, picking up the honour by winning 100% of his aerial duels on the night alongside being measured on the ball with two key passes also notched up.
Leeds will hope that this highly regarded youngster rising through the ranks can take inspiration from Ampadu, the Welsh starlet in question comfortable playing in a defensive midfield spot where the former Chelsea man has also starred this campaign.
Charlie Crew's statistics at youth level
With Daniel Farke talking up an unnamed youngster recently – the German manager saying the starlet in question had "caught his eye" – speculation seems to point in the direction of Charlie Crew being hyped up by the Whites boss according to journalist Joe Donnohue.
That hype isn't unwarranted if the mystery youngster is indeed the Welsh teenager, the 17-year-old prodigy starring in the U21 set-up at Elland Road this season before picking up a recent injury knock.
Crew has gone on to make 12 Premier League 2 appearances this campaign so far, with the young holding midfielder even captaining the Whites against Arsenal U21s in February.
Crew has also shone at international level for Wales across various different age brackets, making 28 combined appearances rising all the way up to making two caps for the U21s.
Described as being a "huge prospect" by his Wales U21 manager Matt Jones, with Crew even training in the senior fold on occasion alongside fellow Leeds faces and compatriots Ampadu and Rodon when playing for his International side, the next big step for the highly regarded 17-year-old will be pushing through into the Whites first team over time.
A homegrown Ampadu replacement
Crew will aim to mirror Ampadu's career trajectory, the versatile 23-year-old managing to come out of the other side of being a youngster with the world at his feet to eventually star in men's football.
The ex-Chelsea man is a key first-teamer for Farke this season alongside fellow Welsh teammates such as Daniel James, staggeringly present in 42 of Leeds' 43 games this campaign and still continuing to battle and give his all to try to steer the West Yorkshire titans to promotion glory.
Crew is some way off coming into the Leeds first team now and causing a stir, especially with Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara forming such a tight-knit partnership in holding midfield, but he will take some hope in Ampadu's story knowing that the summer signing was once discarded from Stamford Bridge as a starlet trying to find his way.
A loan move away from Elland Road could well do Crew the world of good, but with Archie Gray excelling in the first-team fold currently at around the same age as the U21 sensation, funnier things have happened that he could well be the next on the conveyer belt to make a lasting impact soon despite his inexperience.
