'I wasn't ready for the Premier League' - Former Chelsea man's blunt admission about spell at Leeds United
Lewis Bate has conceded he was not ready for Premier League football after leaving Chelsea for Leeds United.
The midfielder was considered among the most promising English teenagers when he arrived at Elland Road for a reported £1.5m in 2021.
He had cut his teeth within Chelsea’s youth system, but was lured from Stamford Bridge by the first-team pathway offered in West Yorkshire.
Although he stood out at youth level for Leeds, senior opportunities proved limited. Loan moves to Oxford United and Milton Keynes Dons were sanctioned before he was allowed to depart permanently in the summer of 2024.
Bate may have failed to make the grade at Leeds but has become a crucial cog in League One side Stockport County’s promotion-chasing machine.
He has been made captain of the Hatters at just 21 and is hoping to lead the side to promotion via the play-offs.
Speaking to the BBC, Bate said: "There has been frustrations along the way. I say of my time at Leeds that I wasn't ready for the Premier League. I had my time, chances, and I look back and I am frustrated.
"But I had my chances and I didn't take them. I don't hold any grudges. I look at myself before anyone else.
"I had to go to MK Dons, which is a fantastic football club, and I loved my time there. I was disappointed we didn't get out of the league, we lost the play-offs, but everything seems to have worked out at Stockport.
"I hope to be in the Championship again where I played with Leeds and carry on building from there with Stockport."
Bate made just one appearance under current Whites boss Daniel Farke, appearing as a late substitute in a Carabao Cup win over Shrewsbury Town in August 2023.
He made Farke’s bench for three Championship fixtures, but did not step on to the pitch during any of them.