Leeds United international refusal confirmed as coach cites 'most difficult' conditions

Denia has cited the stance of international clubs among the difficulties he has had in choosing a squad for the tournament. The Olympics is not part of the official FIFA calendar as so Leeds United are under no obligation to release players for the competition, which begins in Paris on Wednesday July 24 and concludes at the Parc de Princes on Saturday August 10. Had Joseph been granted leave to represent Spain - after his nationality change from England was approved by the International Olympic Committee - then he would have missed Leeds’ pre-season camp in Germany and potentially missed the start of the Championship season. Leeds will get underway in the league on August 10.

Speaking after revealing his initial squad list, which will be whittled down further before the tournament, Denia admitted it had been a difficult process due to a number of factors, including the withholding of players by foreign clubs, but he refrained from naming those who had not been given permission. He said: “It is the most difficult list we have made due to all the conditions we have had. Here are the ones that are available. The conditions are the age, number of players, of which we will have to discard four and then the foreign clubs that do not release players. It’s not a FIFA window so if foreign clubs don’t consider it beneficial then they won’t give you the players. In these months we have done a great job to make the filter. We started working with 180 players.”

Joseph made a breakthough into senior football last season under Daniel Farke, mostly through cameo appearances as a substitute, but showed enough to suggest he could play a more significant role in the 2024/25 campaign. He and many of his team-mates will report back to Thorp Arch next week for the July 2 start of pre-season testing and training