Leeds United youngster Charlie Crew is in the middle of a battle between Wales and England to get him involved in their international setup.
Crew is currently part of the Leeds youth set-up, where he has made eight appearances in the Premier League 2 this season. He joined the club after leaving boyhood side Cardiff City in the summer of 2022, in a move that he described as ‘very hard’. He has since gone on to sign his first professional contract at Elland Road, with a bright future expected from the midfielder.
The 17-year-old is now being chased by England to join their international setup, despite him being a regular in the youth sides of the Welsh national team. Crew has represented Wales from under-15 to under-21 level, and even had a stint at captaining the under-19 side. He has yet to make a senior appearance but it could be something that is on the horizon to fend off interest from England.
Crew has been named in the latest under-21 squad for Wales to play against Iceland and Denmark in the upcoming international break, chosen by my manager Matty Jones. Jones said in the last international break that England were ‘aggressively pursuing’ the youngster, but they are confident on keeping hold of him.
Despite the interest from elsewhere, Crew seems happy with remaining in the Welsh setup, with Jones having a big role in his development as a player. Speaking to Wales Online he said: “Matty has showed great support in me, back from when we were in the Victory Shield.
“When we had Brazil coming over to Denbigh, he has always been in and around our squads, even when he hasn’t been the manager, the fact he’s shown support from the start of my Wales career gives me even more confidence when I come into camps like this.
“He is one of the best managers I’ve played under. He ticks every box, he gets involved with us off the pitch and on the pitch. When you are preparing for a game you need confidence from your manager and your coaching staff and he gives us a huge amount of confidence going into every game,” added Crew.
Writer’s view
Charlie Crew looks like a great talent for the future, and Wales will be hoping to keep hold of him to grow the crop of talented youngsters coming through for the national side. They have built during the international camps, and it appears to be a place where players of every age group look forward to joining.
It will be interesting to see if Crew, along with the other youngsters being pursued by England will be given the opportunity to earn senior international caps soon. It wasn’t going to happen in this window with Wales having two huge qualification games against Armenia and Turkey, to qualify for the European Championships next summer, but there could be an opportunity in the next window if there’s a friendly arranged.
