JOINING a club of Sunderland's size and stature brings a certain element of pressure but Leo Hjelde - despite not turning 21 for another seven months - is well equipped to cope.

He was just 15 when he left Rosenborg for Celtic and had only just turned 18 when he joined Leeds United in the summer of 2021.

Sunderland have long admired and tracked the talented young defender, who once received the ultimate compliment from a former loan boss.

“One hundred percent, Leo is going to be the next Van Dijk," said John Hughes three years ago.

At the time, Hjelde was on loan at Ross County, then managed by former Hartlepool boss Hughes.

He added: "Trust me on that. I would love to see him make his debut for Celtic and become a regular. I would love nothing more to see him running out there.

“Before he came here it was Leeds United who wanted him and he had to sign an extension for his loan to go through.

“He’s going to be a centre-half but can also play left-back. Everything a loan does for a young kid, the physical challenge, playing every week in men’s football and standing up to it.

“There have been disappointments, one or two times he could have done better, but that’s how you learn. He’s a really good kid with a very bright future.”

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Hjelde is no stranger to transfer speculation and uncertainty. A prodigious youth talent, he was wanted by several clubs before joining Celtic as a schoolboy.

And Leeds didn't take no for answer despite failing in their initial effort to sign the defender two years later. They were knocked back in January of 2021 but got their man that summer.

The signing announcement made it clear that the plan for Hjelde - the son of former Nottingham Forest defender Jon Olav Hjelde - was to initially link up with Leeds' Under-21s but within five months he'd made his Premier League debut under Marcelo Bielsa.

"It is a bit surreal to get the debut at such a young age, it makes it almost even better," said Hjelde after coming off the bench in a 3-2 win over West Ham.

"Everything happened very fast. There were two players [Firpo and Forshaw] who went down and then I was told to go out and warm up. When I realised I was going in, my heart was pounding."

Bielsa was a hard taskmaster.

"He has helped me a lot to achieve my goals," said Hjelde at the time.

"I have been with the A-team since the first day. It has done a lot for me to work under one of the world's best managers. He has been tough at times. There is a lot of running. For my part, there have been brutal training days at times."

Hjelde continued to impress Bielsa but injury struck at a bad time.

"A scan came back that said I had broken my kneecap," explained Hjelde in a previous interview.

"It was bad timing, and then Jesse Marsch came in and he hadn't seen you when you were well. So it was a bit unfortunate, but that's how football is, it's not something you can do anything about.

“I got some weird injuries. I removed the tonsils in the pre-season, but I felt I did quite well. Then I got appendicitis after a national team meeting and was out for four weeks I think.

“Then it was a bit difficult to get started again.”

Hjelde headed for Rotherham a year ago, where he had the chance to benefit from regular football in the Championship. That experience will stand the young defender in good stead as he looks to hit the ground running at Sunderland.

As for why Daniel Farke has decided to let him go, Beren Cross, who covers the club for Leeds Live, explains: "Hjelde was effectively surplus to requirements at Leeds.

"He got a few games under his belt in August, when the Leeds squad was still stabilising through a post-relegation summer window, but he didn’t take his chance.

"There was a clear opening for Hjelde to make himself a part of the squad on the left side of defence, especially after relegation, but he looked out of his depth in those opening weeks of the season. There were no complaints when Farke returned him to the under-21s and went in another direction.

"Hjelde’s very versatile. He’s probably best as a left-sided centre-back, but he most frequently filled in at left-back for Leeds. He’s tall, strong and a hard worker with those solid Scandinavian foundations that work so well in English football.

"He fancies himself as a ball-playing centre-back, but he hasn’t had enough exposure at senior level to really test that theory. He did well at Rotherham United in the Championship by all accounts.

"It could prove to be one Leeds regret. He’s only 20 and he seems to have huge potential with the right time and coaching."