Helder Costa will play no part in Leeds United’s future under Daniel Farke.
That’s according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, who claims there is ‘simply no way back’ for the Angolian winger.
Speaking recently, Hay revealed how Costa, 29, is training alone and ‘will most likely’ leave Elland Road on a free transfer once his contract expires at the end of the current season.
“The expectation was that he would go. Farke said himself Costa had said that he wanted to leave, hence why he wasn’t involved at all in the summer,” Hay told The Square Ball.
“There’s simply no way that he can be re-integrated now. He hasn’t trained through preseason, he isn’t familiar with what Farke’s doing, he’s been training on his own.
“There was obviously the Turkish window as well which would have been an option. We all expected that he probably would go back to Saudi but nothing has developed here.
“One of a handful of things is going to have to happen here. Either they terminate his contract, or when they get round to January they find him somewhere to go for six months so he can burn down what’s left of his deal and move on. Or he sits tight until the end of the season and moves on when his contract runs out.
“It’s a strange one Costa really, 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 the [Marcelo] Bielsa season when they were promoted, and he was heavily involved in what went on that year.
“But I suppose Leeds went up and then came down and Costa looks like he will most likely move on for a free transfer at some point, so it’s not particularly one that’s worked.”
During his four years in Yorkshire, Costa, who has nine international caps to his name, has directly contributed to 19 goals in 71 games in all competitions.