Leeds forward was sold for mega £20m, now he’s being outscored by Struijk

Leeds United lost a number of their key first-team players from the 2023/24 campaign after they failed to earn promotion back to the Premier League.

Daniel Farke had to watch on as Crysencio Summeville, Glen Kamara, Georginio Rutter, and Archie Gray all departed from Elland Road on permanent deals.

The Whites lost to Southampton 1-0 at Wembley in the play-off final in May and those four players opted to pursue top-flight football elsewhere this season.

One sale that, perhaps, went under the radar was the deal to send Luis Sinisterra back to Bournemouth on a permanent basis, after his difficult spell at Leeds.

Luis Sinisterra’s spell with Leeds

The Colombia international was signed from Feyenoord, for a reported fee of £21.4m, by former Whites head coach Jesse Marsch ahead of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

Unfortunately, the former Eredivisie star suffered muscle, ankle, and foot injuries that kept him sidelined for a combined 16 matches that term, which hindered his progress at Elland Road.

As you can see in the table above, Sinisterra did provide a decent goal threat from a wide position but struggled to offer much in the way of creativity, as Leeds were relegated from the Premier League.

The 25-year-old forward then seemingly decided that he did not want to play a full season in the Championship with the Whites, as he sealed a move on loan to Bournemouth in the top-flight.

Leeds struck gold with Luis Sinisterra

Leeds completed a deal, which became official this summer, to sell the Colombian flanker to the Cherries for a reported fee of £20m back in February.

The West Yorkshire outfit struck gold with that fee as the winger struggled in front of goal and with fitness issues during the 2023/24 campaign, in which he was outscored by central defender Pascal Struijk.

Sinisterra produced just three goals in 23 appearances for Bournemouth in all competitions last season, with two goals in 20 Premier League games.

Meanwhile, Struijk, who played at the heart of the Leeds defence, racked up five goals in 25 outings in all competitions, with three strikes in 23 Championship outings.

This illustrates how little the Colombia international provided at the top end of the pitch for the Cherries, as he was outscored by a centre-back and former teammate.

Sinisterra’s injury issues were also prevalent, once again, as he missed nine of the last ten matches in the Premier League with a hamstring injury, which came after the club had already agreed to pay £20m to sign him permanently.

This means that the 25-year-old flop has only played 40 matches at league level in the last two seasons combined in the top-flight, for Leeds and Bournemouth, and scored seven goals in that time.

Overall, Leeds struck gold by cashing in for £20m, making a loss of just £1.4m, as they managed to offload a player who has struggled with injuries and form over the last two years, particularly when you consider that Transfermarkt currently value him at just €17m (£14m).

Sinisterra has scored one goal in three Premier League matches so far this season but time will tell if he will be able to maintain a consistent run of form and fitness to ultimately make Leeds regret their sale.