The expensive but failed signing is harder than ever to swallow for Premier League clubs, particularly those with limited resources. That seems to be the case for Helder Costa, who Leeds United bought for just under £16m from Wolves, but hasn’t been able to make it work at Elland Road.
The Portuguese winger arrived to plenty of excitement after a good spell in the midlands, but failed to produce too much of that during his 61 appearances for Leeds. The Lilywhites had hoped that he would be able to recover somewhat during his loan deal at Valencia, but it hasn’t been case.
Despite initially getting good game time, his lacklustre production saw him slip down the pecking order and has since become Valencia’s loanee with the least minutes played.
It appears that Costa will have to bed back in at Leeds or seek another loan next season. It appears neither side has much more of an appetite to give it another go and so recouping some of the money spent seems unlikely.