Noel Whelan has stated that Leeds United are looking to tie Oliver Casey down to a long-term deal and feels the defender could have a future at Elland Road.

The 19-year-old is the latest highly-rated talent to come through the Thorp Arch academy and has shone for the development sides throughout this season.

That has seen him win a place on the bench quite regularly under Marcelo Bielsa and he made his debut in the win over Huddersfield back in October.

And, speaking to Football Insider, Whelan revealed that he expects talks to take place over a new deal for Casey, although he stressed the need for patience with the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.

"Generally, coming up to Christmas time people are in and around and you see that talent, you see that player progressing from under-23s to the first team, getting a bit of game time here and there.

"It shows that there’s a player you can trust and you can utilise. The fact he’s not put pen to paper right now, it’s going to be very, very difficult to get things sorted out while this (lockdown) is going on.

"It will be between the representatives, between the club and between the two of them they can come to some agreement because some players who have been on the fringes, been on the bench, they’ve got the capability of playing at Leeds United."

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The verdict

We've seen several quality players come through at Leeds United in recent years and there is another group of youngsters who look as though they could make the step up under Bielsa.

Casey certainly falls into that category and it would make sense for the club to move swiftly to secure his long-term future.

However, that is obviously going to be way down the list of priorities for the Whites now, but you would expect this to be resolved over the coming months.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

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