"Well, I've got a few more months I think," smiles Lennon. "I've got a good chance - hopefully."

It's back down to earth for Aaron on a cold November day up at Thorp Arch, however, where LLL found him training with the youth team. As we
talk, the coach taking the first-team squad down to Charlton is departing
without him, caretaker boss Eddie Gray opting to hand the teenager a weekend
away from the Premiership pressure cooker.

Lennon has been shielded from the spotlight of the media pretty successfully by the club, in much the same way Milner was (and still
is), and you get the feeling he likes it that way. This is his first interview
and photo shoot for LLL and he doesn't look entirely comfortable when posing
for the camera ("It's too cold to smile!"), but it's something he's going to
have to get used to if his career continues progressing at this meteoric rate.

He was recommended to the club while playing for Leeds Sunday league side Yorkshire Amateurs and signed for the Whites at the age of
nine. He hasn't looked back since, playing in older age groups all the way
through the Academy, and began attracting attention last season when playing
for the juniors, ending up top scorer despite not always playing as a striker.

His exploits caught the eye of then-manager Peter Reid and after impressing on the pre-season tour of Ireland, he was given his chance
with the first team.

So how did it feel when he realized he was going on against Spurs?

"He (Reid) just said 'Go get warmed up'. I couldn't believe it. It just happened so fast. Like last year I was playing with the Under-17s
and the next thing I'm with the first team. And since then I've been involved
in every game."

And you are a record-holder now!

He nods casually: "Yeah, it's an achievement, it's good for me. It's something that's there, to say I've done it."

Although Reid was loath to hype up Aaron's talent, he was full of praise for the youngster during his short spell in charge.

"He's come on and done superbly in his cameo roles this season," said the former boss.

"Aaron is on our own doorstep and that can only be a massive bonus. With his pace he can get at people. I'm excited by him - and Milner -
but it's difficult to use two players in that cameo role.

"To be fair, when I've used Aaron, he's had teams on the back foot. He has a gift where he can go by people and he has a football brain
as well. I believe he's got a good chance."

However, as Alan Smith has recently pointed out, this is not the ideal time for a

teenager to be trying to establish himself in a struggling Leeds side.

Smith came into a team on the up, and admits it's a lot more difficult for
Lennon and Milner to make their mark.

The striker said: "They are young lads. James has been on loan at Swindon and
he has come back looking stronger and he has benefited from that.

"Aaron we have to use sparingly because he is only 16 and to come into a team
that is struggling, with a lot of pressure to survive, is not right for a kid
to be honest."

Aaron doesn't seem too fazed by the situation he finds himself in, it has to be said. He's your typical streetwise 16-year-old, into
hanging around with his mates, going shopping in town, playing pool and
listening to hip-hop - 50 Cent being his favourite on the Walkman at the
moment. Nothing to mark him out from the kids you see in Leeds city center
every day. Then the bling-bling gold necklace catches your eye and it hits you
- this kid is 16, and he's playing for Leeds. At one of the most difficult
times in the club's recent history.

He insists: "I don't feel any pressure on me but it is hard for the team at the moment on and off the field. The press are trying to get at
the team but they've got to stick together and do their best, that's all they
can do."

And he seems to be learning fast where the media are concerned: "I don't bother with the press, I do read the papers but it's just
pure lies, they just make it up! You read something and it's just not true.
They print what they want, so the players have just got to carry on with what
they do, and do their best."

It's interesting to hear Lennon refer to the first team as 'they'. He's in the transitional phase at the moment that Milner has only
recently passed through, and is getting used to making the huge leap from youth
to Premiership football - and back again. Three days after our interview he was
playing in the FA Youth Cup - but unfortunately couldn't prevent the youngsters
crashing out to an extra-time winner against last year's semi-finalists
Ipswich.

"It's different," he concedes. "The games are played at very different tempos. When you play in the first team it's much faster, so when you
come back down it's weird, playing in front of no crowd. You get used to it
though."

And he doesn't have to go far for some advice from someone who knows exactly what he's going through. James Milner is his best mate at the
club, and the two have grown up together.

"James is a good friend," says the younger lad. "We've been together all the way through, me and James are close.

"It helped having someone to introduce me to the others. You settle in quicker when you've got someone you can talk to all the time.

"You know, it is a bit intimidating at first because it's a new person coming into a new environment
but the first-team players are great, everyone just helps you. The whole team
have been encouraging me, saying 'Don't worry about it, just go out there and
play your game, no pressure'. They're all helpful, just encouraging me all the
time."

And Lennon also receives plenty of encouragement from his family, "most" of whom are Leeds fans, and they attend every home game.

"Yeah, they're good support, my family's always there for me."

Quite literally in the case of his older brother, who drives him to and from training every day. Aaron might be old enough to scare the life
out of Premiership defenders on the football pitch, but he's got to wait until
April before he can drive himself to the game.

And it there could a row brewing in the Lennon household in the not-too-distant future, as younger brother Jordan seems to favour a certain
spiky haired blonde over his own sibling.

"My little brother Jordan is a big Leeds fan, he loves Smithy, he's got his name on the back of his shirt," admits Aaron. "He's met
him a few times, and made me get his autograph. He loves it that I'm playing
for Leeds, he tells everyone."

And watch out for that name - the 11-year-old is already following in his brother's footsteps by playing for Yorkshire Amateurs. 

But turning to the present, has Gray had a word with him yet about how he sees his future? Lennon hadn't featured under his stewardship at
the time of the interview, the caretaker boss careful not to push his young
star too far too soon.

"I've spoken to him a few times. He just says I've got plenty of time, there's no rush for me, and there's no pressure. He was always
there to help out when I was with the youth, when he was with the first team,
and all the lads and I respect him."

So it might be that Lennon may continue his progress quietly, away from the harsh spotlight of the Premiership, and emerge to excite
us again in a few months just as Milner has done. Now that's something to look
forward to.

(First published in 'Leeds, Leeds, Leeds', December 2003)