A fully fit Izzy Brown could be just the spark Leeds United's Championship promotion campaign needs

It took a gamble on Leeds United’s part to bring him back to the top tier of the EFL in August but, as Brown works through the final few weeks of rehabilitation from the ACL surgery which has held him back, the potential he holds starts to feel tangible: a loanee from Chelsea who Huddersfield Town tried to spend £8m on 18 months ago, and who Brighton’s Chris Hughton took under his wing before the beginning of last season. That move, Hughton said, was “natural progression for Izzy.”

The transfer felt natural because two months earlier, Brown had played in Huddersfield’s play-off final win over Reading at Wembley, signing off a five-month spell in West Yorkshire by helping Town make the Premier League for the first time. There are obvious parallels between then and now as he prepares to involve himself in a Championship promotion bid at the halfway stage.

The 21-year-old started the 2016-17 season at Rotherham United but was nicked by David Wagner in January after Chelsea recalled him and paved the way for a different loan elsewhere. Huddersfield were in good health when he signed, sitting comfortably inside the play-off positions, but Matt Glennon, the club’s former goalkeeper who works as a pundit for BBC Radio Leeds, remembers Brown as a clever deal at the right time.

“Building up to him joining the results had been decent and the position in the league was good but everyone felt that Huddersfield needed that little bit extra to see them through the rest of the season,” Glennon said.

“It’s easy to forget how many games you’ve got left at Christmas and Izzy Brown provided that spark, that bit of something different. He exploded onto the scene.” Brown scored in four of his first six appearances, including a precious finish in a 2-1 win over Leeds in February 2017. “That’s always going to endear you to people in Huddersfield but there was more to him than that goal,” Glennon said. “The touches of magic Wagner got from him helped to get the club over the line.”

With Huddersfield, Brown had the advantage of having played regularly for Rotherham and in the Championship prior to his move. Leeds took on a player who underwent major knee surgery while at Brighton in January and has not played a first-team match since. He came though his first 90-minute outing in an Under-23s fixture at Burnley on Tuesday, scoring in a topsy-turvy 6-3 win, and has progressed gradually through three appearances with United’s development squad. They are, to date, the sum of game time.