Sheffield United have quite the talent pool in the under-23s set-up at the moment and that has been boosted this week by the return from injury of young defender, Jean Leroy-Belehouan.
The centre-back, 21, suffered a serious injury after joining Halifax on loan in January this year and has only just managed to get back into full training and action. Indeed, he has been training with the Sheffield United first-team under Paul Heckingbottom, something Belehouan confirmed himself on Twitter a few weeks back.
And following on from those training sessions, Belehouan has finally made his comeback for the Blades at under-23 level, playing in the 2-0 win against Crewe Alexandra this week.The Blades ran out 2-0 winners in the game, a goals from Will Osula and Hassan Ayari were enough.
Taking to Twitter once again following the game, Belehouan showed his delight at making his return. Indeed, he confirmed it had been a mammoth 284 days out without action.
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Certainly, it’s a positive for Sheffield United to see Belehouan back. At 21, he’s one of the older youngsters in and around the 23s. But the fact he is involved at first-team level suggests Paul Heckingbottom might well have big plans for the youngster.
Who is Sheffield United youngster Jean Leroy-Belehouan?
There doesn’t seem to be a week pass by without a Blades youngster making an impression. We already brought you how Sydie Peck scored another stunner this weekend. Peck arrived from Arsenal in the summer. And in Belehouan, the Blades have another to come from one of the PL big boys.
Belehouan comes from the well-respected Manchester United set-up. The Old Trafford youth record needs no introduction, so the youngster should have had a fine footballing education early on. He moved to the Blades in 2017, bringing a seven year spell with the Red Devils to an end.

It’s still early days for Belehouan. But with fitness now regained, and game-time coming, he has the chance to show everyone what he’s made of. If he does well, then he could be another youngster to join the number of young United starlets out on loan.