Leeds United looked to have the right blend of youth and experience ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.

Thomas Christiansen’s side had six of their players that were 28 or older with nine under the age of 23 as they looked to better their seventh-place finish from the year before.

Garry Monk departed in the summer before the former Denmark international took charge at Elland Road.

It was a busy time at Thorpe Arch with no less than 20 players coming through the doors to complete permanent moves to the Yorkshire club.

It was a total overhaul with a whole host of players leaving, too.

One of the more curious additions was that of the 13th of the summer.

The unlucky number, that is commonly associated with bad luck, was Jay-Roy Grot.

On August 24, 2017, the Dutchman moved to Elland Road, signing a four-year deal with the Championship club.

Grot moved to Leeds from NEC Nijmegen for an undisclosed fee and would be an option in attack, be it up front or on the wing.

The reaction to his addition was full of positivity and expectation from the club’s supporters.

And the move initially would work out well for the then 19-year-old.

He made his Championship debut for Leeds on August 26, 2017, in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

On that occasion, he came on from the bench but managed to make his first start for the club in the League Cup win over Burnley.

Having not scored for the club since his summer switch, the expectant Leeds support would jeer the young attacker when he came on as a substitute in the win over Norwich on December 17, 2017.

This caused Christiansen to offer public support to the striker and try to quell the negativity Leeds supporters were directing at him.

Things were starting to become difficult for the young forward who was still in the infancy of his Elland Road career. 

It took him until March to score his first goal for the club, but it was nothing more than a token of his efforts in the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on March 17, 2018.

All Grot’s appearances in the league were from the bench under Christiansen, and he finally made his full league debut on April 10, 2018.

It came in the defeat to Preston North End, under new boss Paul Heckingbottom who was appointed at the start of February.

At the 21st time of asking, he finally started for his new club, but the next two appearances would again come from the bench.

The season ended in disastrous fashion for Leeds who were in with a shot of a play-off place before their post-Christmas collapse saw them finish 13th in the league.

Heckingbottom left the club at the end of the season before Marcelo Bielsa was appointed to take Leeds forward.

After 23 appearances the year before, Bielsa thought it would be better if Grot left the club on loan in order to gain more first-team experience.

That would show the Dutchman that he was not immediately in the new boss’ plans, with three-years left on his deal after a move the year prior.

And on July 5, 2018, the 20-year-old left the club to join Eredivisie side VVV Venlo on a season-long loan.

He did so with the blessing of the Leeds supporters, with the hope that regular first-team football would be beneficial after 22 substitute appearances the previous season.

So far this campaign, back in his homeland, Grot has man made 11 appearances for the Dutch outfit, starting eight times.

He has scored twice and registered one assist and has played 660 minutes-  already double that of his total last season during his maiden year in England.

It has been an impressive loan spell for Grot who has received a call-up to the Holland U21 side and looks to be benefiting from the temporary move away from Leeds.

There was a lot of expectation on the young man’s shoulders when he signed for Leeds but having been given a chance to play week in and week out elsewhere; he is showing signs that he is back to the form that made Leeds interested in him in the first place.