Leeds United will be fearing this coming weekend's opening leg against Norwich City in the Championship playoffs, knowing that they have a reputation for slipping up when it matters on the big occasion.
The Whites have missed out on promotion via this dramatic lottery five times in total now, with even Marcelo Bielsa falling victim to Leeds' wretched luck in this knockout competition back in 2019 at the hands of Derby County.
Frank Lampard's Rams would have the last laugh on Leeds over two legs at the expense of Bielsa's Whites, securing a 4-2 win in the second contest to make the South American manager feel sick with his introduction as to what can happen in the high stakes of the playoffs.
One forgotten Whites face wouldn't burst into the first-team until after Leeds broke their promotion hoodoo and returned to the Premier League under the iconic Argentine boss, but he will surely be moved on in the summer permanently after finding himself routinely chucked out on loan since Bielsa's dismissal from West Yorkshire.
Lewis Bate's transfer to Leeds
Lewis Bate is the man in question, having joined Leeds in the summer of 2021 with a lot of hype attached to his name, even being touted as the "truest Kalvin Phillips successor out there" at the time by Leeds Live journalist Joe Donnohue.
The Whites did have grounds to be excited about what Bate could achieve in his new Yorkshire location to Donnohue's credit, purchased for a bumper £1.5m after impressing over a number of years in the youth set-up at Chelsea.
Bate began to attract the likes of Leeds to his services when emerging through the U18 ranks in Cobham, picking up a combined 11 goals and assists from 29 games before going on to make 25 U23 appearances.
Leeds had clearly already made their mind up that Bate could excel making the monumental leap to senior football watching on, forking out a big fee to land a midfielder only used to the comforts of youth pitches.
The teenage sensation would initially settle in well to his new surroundings, amassing 28 Whites appearances at U21 level and helping himself to a single goal and assist.
It's when the now 21-year-old midfielder was thrust into the senior spotlight where the wide-eyed 5 foot 8 talent would struggle, which could ultimately be the undoing of his Whites career with Farke not exactly taking to the ex-Chelsea man.
Speaking out about his underwhelming Leeds stint whilst playing for Milton Keynes Dons this season, Bate said it was "tough" to be uprooted away from West Yorkshire again but stated he didn't "hold a grudge" against the German in the Whites hot-seat.
He could well begin to dislike the promotion-seeking boss more if he does end up being offloaded permanently after the playoffs are wrapped up with Bate a blotted-out player in the back of Leeds supporters' minds now.
Bate's poor time at Leeds
Bate, after so much talk surrounding him after walking into the building from Chelsea, has really disappointed with just five appearances under his belt for Leeds with three of those coming in the Premier League.
All five of those appearances must feel like a lifetime ago for the 21-year-old though. Bate last appeared for the club for one solitary minute in an EFL Cup tie with Shrewsbury back in September. When it comes to league action, however, the skilful ex-Blues youngster last donned a Whites strip all the way back in May 2022 against his former club funnily enough.
1. GK – Illan Meslier
2. RB – Robin Koch
3. CB – Diego Llorente
4. CB – Liam Cooper
5. LB – Pascal Struijk
6. CM – Lewis Bate
7. CM – Kalvin Phillips
8. RM – Raphinha
9. CAM – Dan James
10. LM – Jack Harrison
11. ST – Rodrigo
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Selected by Jesse Marsch in a lineup that boasted names such as Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, before both left for luxurious new pastures, Bate would only end up playing 59 minutes before being hauled off by the dire American.
Only winning one of eight ground duels on the day, alongside losing possession 12 times in a holding role, it shouldn't come as a shock – in the present – that Farke is hesitant to use the 21-year-old in the cut and thrust of the Championship.
Leeds will just want to move on and get rid of Bate in the coming summer transfer window, even if the diminutive figure has gone on to be a success out on loan with both Oxford United and Milton Keynes.
One-time Leeds assistant manager Karl Robinson even described Bate as a "magician" when managing him at the Kassam Stadium, where the Whites dud amassed a respectable four assists and a solitary goal.
It could be a stretch, from a Whites perspective, that they get any money back for Bate now – with his contract up in the summer – to the dismay of the stuttering promotion hopefuls.
Bate's transfer value in 2024
According to Football Transfers, Bate is only worth a paltry £258k which is a far-cry from the £1m plus Leeds splashed on the midfielder only three years back.
Leeds might not be too disheartened that they could lose the 21-year-old on a free transfer now therefore, knowing that the one-time Whites starlet is now worth even less than the likes of Liam Cooper back at Elland Road with the ageing Scotsman also nearing towards the end of his current deal in West Yorkshire.
2024
£258k
2023
£430k
2022
£3.1m
2021
£1.5m
Sourced by Football Transfers
Cooper is worth nearly £200k more than Bate at £430k, despite being 11 years older than his counterpart, further demonstrating how much of a fall from grace the current MK Dons loanee has suffered.
It looks unlikely that the midfielder would even have a reserve spot in the Leeds set-up next season, with talk centring on the return of Bate's teammate in his final Leeds league game to date in Phillips to bolster the midfield spots.
Bate would never go on to be a Phillips-style figure for the Whites after being tipped for big things exiting Chelsea as a teenager, with the former Bielsa buy looking likely to be ditched by the 49ers in the off-season to finally pull the plug on this poor move.
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