Leeds United must sell Helder Costa
Leeds United must look to offload Helder Costa this summer amid Phil Hay’s recent transfer claim.
What’s the story?
The Athletic’s Hay recently revealed that sources in Spain had told him that La Liga clubs, including the likes of Valencia, are monitoring him, although no formal bids had been placed.
In response to the news, Carlton Palmer has delivered his verdict on Costa’s potential exit. He said: “I think it’s a good fit for all parties, a good fit. He’s not a regular at Leeds United. I don’t think he’s going to be in the starting line-up, he’s basically a squad player at Leeds United and the lad probably wants to go and play.”
Palmer had previously said exclusively to Football FanCast: “You look at things and say, if you’re looking to spend the type of money that Leeds are looking to spend, if you’ve got someone there on decent money and they aren’t playing regular football, then those are the type to move on enable you to use his salary to bring in the players that you want, who are going to make your squad a better squad.”
Costa must go
With reports claiming that Leeds spent around £16m to sign Costa from fellow Premier League side Wolves, it’d be fair to assume that Marcelo Bielsa would have expected a lot more from one of the club’s most expensive signings in recent memory.
Transfermarkt now value him at just £9m, almost half of what the Whites actually paid the Molineux club to bring him to Yorkshire permanently.
Costa had a woeful campaign in the Premier League last season for the Whites, scoring just three times and providing only three assists in 22 games – in fact he’s found the back of the net only eight times in 69 matches altogether for Leeds.
After a particularly disappointing performance in the Premier League against Liverpool, former Leeds striker Noel Whelan criticised the Portuguese ace, telling Football Insider: “The one player that disappointed me was Helder Costa. Once again he was poor. There is something there that is not right because Poveda came on and did more in that short time than Costa did in the 60 minutes he was on the field.
“He is fourth in the pecking order in terms of wingers for me. Poveda has to come before him now. He plays it safe and he’s negative. For a player that cost £16m, I need to see a hell of a lot more from him. At least Poveda runs at people. He is positive and that is what a winger should do. Costa has been a massive flop. A real disappointment again.”
Earning around £70k-a-week, Costa is one of the Whites’ highest earners at Elland Road, but he has done nothing to suggest he is worthy of being in that category of players and is simply burning a hole in Andrea Radrizzani’s pocket.
It’s finally time for Bielsa to get rid on a permanent basis.
Meanwhile, Leeds could sign their new Pablo Hernandez in this star…