According to Phil Hay, there is “simply no way” Helder Costa can be re-integrated into the Leeds United team under Daniel Farke despite his continued presence at the club.
On September 25, an Athletic journalist told The Square Ball that the Whites forward is training alone and will “most likely” leave on a free transfer at the end of his contract, amid a “strange” situation in which the 29-year-old was once heavily involved in the first-team but has now been “so anonymous for so long.”
The 29-year-old has spent the last two seasons on loan, first at Valencia and then at Al-Ittihad, and after failing to arrange a return to Saudi Arabia this summer, he may now face contract termination or a final six-month temporary move in January.
“The expectation was that he would go,” Hay stated (31m). Farke himself stated Costa had stated his desire to quit, which is why he was not there during the summer.
“There’s simply no way he can be reintegrated at this point.” He hasn’t trained during preseason, is unfamiliar with Farke’s methods, and has been training on his own.
“Of course, there was the Turkish window, which would have been an option.” We all anticipated him to return to Saudi Arabia, but nothing has changed.
One of a number of things will have to happen here. Either they cancel his contract, or they locate him somewhere to go for six months in January so he may burn down what’s left of his contract and move on. Or he waits until the end of the season and then moves on when his contract expires.
“It’s a strange one, Costa, because he’s been so anonymous for so long you almost feel like he’s been a waste of money, but he was relatively influential in [Marcelo] Bielsa’s season when they were promoted, and he was heavily involved in what happened that year.”
“However, I suppose Leeds rose and then fell.”
