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A former Leeds United goalkeeper has revealed that his spell at Elland Road developed him both on a personal and a sporting level.
The Whites focused on recruiting young talents when Victor Orta was at the club as sporting director, but they had an eye on Italy before then, dating to Massimo Cellino’s time as owner.
Italians were snapped up, with goalkeeper Marco Silvestri landing in 2014 in Cellino’s period, and then the young shot-stopper Elia Caprile arriving in 2020.
Caprile was a highly rated talent, but did not break through into the first team, despite being involved in squads under Marcelo Bielsa.
Now 23 years old, Caprile is in Italy at Serie A giants Napoli, who he signed for last year.
He continues to remember his spell at Leeds and feels it had a huge influence on him both personally and professionally, not least playing under many different managers.
“What did the experience at Leeds in England leave me? It trained me on a sporting and personal level, a new nation learning the language and going through the pandemic alone, all of this helped me”, he said via Italian outlet AreaNapoli.
“Every coach left me something, improved me on a technical and personal level.”
Caprile has made three appearances in Serie A for Napoli this term, keeping two clean sheets in the process as the Azzurri battle at the top of the table under new coach Antonio Conte.
His deal with the Italian side has another four years left to run.
