Daniel Farke handed Jean-Matteo Bahoya injury update ahead of Leeds vs Arsenal

France under-21s coach Gerald Baticle has confirmed that Jean-Matteo Bahoya has sustained an ankle injury but the severity of his issue remains unclear.

The 21-year-old, who was signed by Leeds United on deadline day, was forced off after 35 minutes in his team’s 3-2 win over Luxembourg in Saturday’s U21 European Championship Qualifying match.

Bahoya had started the previous two fixtures against Iceland and Estonia, scoring in the 2-0 win over the latter.

He had played 67 minutes against Iceland and 78 versus Estonia, having only played barely two minutes of competitive action - his Leeds cameo debut against Crystal Palace - since the middle of May.

Asked about Bahoya’s issue, as per L’Equipe, coach Baticle explained: “I cannot tell you exactly what the injury is; there will be further tests, but it is his ankle.”

This is, therefore, not a recurrence of the hamstring injury Bahoya - currently at Elland Road on a loan deal that could become an obligation to buy - suffered at parent club Eintracht Frankfurt in April.

The winger has only played once for Leeds so far, with Daniel Farke keen to ease him into Premier League football, especially having only enjoyed 81 minutes of competitive action since the start of May.

"I [only] need to throw him into the water when I get the feeling he can swim,” said the Leeds boss last month.

“I know how this league is unforgivable and if you put a player in and there's not a good performance on debut then pretty quickly, a player is buried already.”

Farke will have been pleased Bahoya was bestowed minutes this break but now has a third player added to his injury list.

Joe Rodon is not expected back until November with his hamstring injury but Harry Wilson’s quad issue is thought to be less severe.

Farke is expected to give an injury update on all of his active senior players in Thursday’s press conference ahead of the trip to champions Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime.

It’s hard to judge how impactful Bahoya’s injury is without knowing its severity, but the attacker playing so much in nine days - having not played much at all in the preceding four months - always carried a risk.

Farke and Frankfurt would have a right to be irked by the game management of the French youth coaches. At the same time, the issue might not be overly serious.

And given Farke’s previous comments on bedding him in slowly, the chances of him featuring against Arsenal are slim anyway. But try telling that to a fanbase that is eager to see him get more minutes.