Helder Costa, a winger for Leeds United, has no future at Elland Road, but the team will agree to let him leave if a transfer doesn’t happen quickly.
The Whites have just finished one of their busiest transfer windows to date, during which departures dominated the conversation all summer long.
Helder Costa is one player who is rumored to be departing very soon, albeit not every player who was linked with a move away actually left.
Why is he still here?
Helder Costa’s Leeds career hasn’t gone as planned since his first season at the club, when he was initially on loan, despite having joined permanently for £16 million from Wolves under Marcelo Bielsa.
Ineffective loan stints at Valencia and Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad over the past two seasons made it unlikely that he would be immediately wanted back.
Since then, he has been practicing alone at Thorp Arch with clarity on his situation and relationship with the club: as Daniel Farke hinted at in August, he doesn’t want to be there, and the club doesn’t either.
Will he definitely leave soon?
One way or another, Costa will be leaving the club very soon as he remains completely frozen out without a squad number at Leeds.
According to Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post, Costa’s contract will be terminated if he is unable to secure a long-term transfer to one of the leagues where the transfer windows are still open in the coming hours or days.
“If a transfer to a country like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia, or Qatar does not happen this month, Leeds are anticipated to agree to a severance deal with Costa that will end his four-year contract and make him a free agent.
“Costa first joined on a loan in July 2019 and switched from Wolverhampton Wanderers the following summer after the club was assured of promotion to the Premier League.
Even though there is still Middle Eastern interest, Costa’s chances of moving at this late hour (Saudi Arabia’s transfer window closes at 10 pm) are slim because he is now representing Angola in international competition.
Do you want any of the loan players to return?
Costa has to leave the team since staying there would be a huge waste of money both financially and for the winger’s future.
We could do without him in the Championship since he’ll just be sitting about doing nothing while taking home a respectable salary.
Given how good he was previously in his career at Leeds and Wolves, I’m amazed no one has taken a chance on him.
