BREAKING NEWS: Stoke City beat Leeds United and Norwich City in the battle for Port Vale prodigy Karl Agnero.

BREAKING NEWS: Stoke City beat Leeds United and Norwich City in the battle for Port Vale prodigy Karl Agnero.

The 16-year-old is a highly-rated prospect at Vale Park and was handed his first-team debut last month, in the EFL Trophy against Wolverhampton Wanderers under-21s.

His exploits appear to have attracted attention, with TEAMtalk crediting Leeds, Norwich and Stoke with interest.

The trio are thought to be keeping tabs on the midfielder, who can also operate at right-back. Other Championship clubs are also believed to be watching, while there is also thought to be admiring glances from the Premier League.

Leeds made a habit of recruiting heavily at academy level during Victor Orta’s reign as director of football.

While there has been less emphasis on youth recruitment since his exit, Leeds have not hesitated to raid other academies for talent. Scottish duo Josh McDonald and Lewis Pirie are recent examples, having joined last year from Hamilton Academical and Aberdeen respectively.

Leeds have shown a willingness to blood young talent in recent years, even if not all of their prospects have made the grade. While the likes of Cody Drameh and Lewis Bate have fallen short, there have been breakthroughs for Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville among others.

Following failure to bounce back up to the Premier League last term, Leeds focused entirely on strengthening the senior ranks, therefore additions at youth level may be tempting in the next windows.

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