Leeds United supporters will be hoping that the wave of new signings that have entered through the door this summer gel well with the rest of the team moving forward, as a horror start to the new Championship season gets pushed firmly to one side.
Already, the signs have been positive, with new loanee Manor Solomon assisting Mateo Joseph’s clever strike to break the deadlock versus Hull City last time out, whilst both Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka also impressed from off the bench.
Daniel Farke will just be keeping everything crossed that none of his new buys end up becoming notable flops in West Yorkshire down the line, like Helder Costa ended up being, after costing the Whites an eye-watering £16m to purchase permanently back in 2020.
Helder Costa’s career at Leeds
Initially impressing Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta during Leeds’ triumphant promotion season, the Whites would break the bank to land Costa when moving up to the Premier League, which would then turn out to be a colossal waste of money.
The Angola international would help himself to four goals and six assists from 43 Championship clashes during the 2019/20 season, before finding his minutes lessen in the top flight, with only 22 games handed to him in the Premier League.
By the time the 2021/22 season rolled around, Costa had fallen way down the pecking order, with loans out to Valencia and Al-Ittihad delaying his eventual permanent exit from Elland Road.
It’s not as if the Whites dud was on a cheap wage either, with his pay packet during his final campaign with the club coming in at a high £32.5k-per-week, as per Capology, which saw him rake in more than the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville and other key first-teamers in the process.
The expensive former Leeds man did have moments of magic like the strike above against Fulham up his sleeve, but these sublime goals were very rare to come by towards the end of his stint in West Yorkshire, with Costa’s time in England finally ending last year when Portuguese outfit G.D. Estoril Praia snapped him up.
His once staggering £16m valuation has since plummeted, however, with the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker’s price tag now far less.
Helder Costa’s transfer value in 2024
According to Football Transfers, Costa’s value has taken a considerable hit, with the ex-Leeds number 17’s estimated worth now standing at a meagre £750k.
The 30-year-old forward hasn’t helped his own cause by managing no goals or assists from his first four games donning an Estoril strip, as his career continues to peter out even when he’s far away from Leeds.
It’s not as if this has been a sudden decline for Costa, however, with his value decreasing at a rapid pace year after year, with £8m falling off his price tag just 365 days into his doomed Whites career.
Wolves will just feel glad that they managed to offload their former attacker to Leeds, knowing that he could well have flopped at Molineux instead of Elland Road, after once costing the Old Gold an extortionate £13m in 2017.
It’s no real shock that Costa isn’t held in high regard by those with associations to Leeds now, but former Leeds man Noel Whelan ripped into the overpriced dud when he was still struggling at the club, labelling him a “massive flop” in 2021 when speaking to Football Insider.
Farke will pray that the likes of Ramazani and Tanaka aren’t spoken about in a similar scathing manner at any stage during their stays in England, as Leeds look forward to Championship football kicking off again after the international break is up.
