Graham Smyth: Orta's first-team signing now set for 'trial' away from Leeds 'this week' – report

Leeds United correspondent Graham Smyth has provided an update on winger Ian Poveda and a return to Blackburn Rovers.

Poveda was brought to the club by Victor Orta back in 2020 and has gone on to make 20 appearances for the first-team at Elland Road, 14 of which came in the Premier League last season.

The 22-year-old was sent on loan to Blackburn Rovers for the 2021/22 campaign, however, he has been out through injury since November.

The winger has been recovering at Thorp Arch in recent months, but now looks set to make a return to Ewood Park.

Smyth took to Twitter on Monday to provide an update regarding Poveda and a return to Blackburn.

He confirmed that Poveda will ‘return’ to Blackburn ‘this week’, labelling it as a ‘trial of sorts’ with Tony Mowbray to decide if he wants the Leeds man around for the final three Championship games.

“Ian Poveda will return to Blackburn Rovers towards the end of this week for a trial of sorts, to see if his loan spell can resume.

“A chance to finish the season on a high, after a lot of potential and promise was dashed by injury.”

Poveda has returned to the grass in recent weeks but hasn’t played competitively in 2022, so there could be a risk of a new injury occurring if Rovers overload the winger in the coming weeks.

However, you can see why Blackburn want to see Poveda in action, especially as they have continued to pay a percentage of his salary while he has been sidelined.

Blackburn’s playoff hopes are also fading quickly as they are without a win in five, so they may see Poveda’s return as a welcome boost as they look to turn things around and finish in the top six.

In other news: Leeds and Orta want ‘extraordinary’ ace in Bosman move; same agent as Bamford. 

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