Leeds ace details how he convinced reported £15m-valued player to switch to Elland Rd
Helder Costa sought advice from his former Wolves team-mate Barry Douglas before he opted to join Leeds United last summer.
Costa, 26, swapped the West Midlands for West Yorkshire in a season-long loan deal that will become permanent in the summer to the tune of £15million [Daily Mail].
It means that Costa will become Leeds’ most expensive signing since Rio Ferdinand in 2000 when he joined the Whites from West Ham for £18million.
Before making his decision on dropping down to the Championship, Costa spoke to left-back Douglas, 30, after he was signed by Marcelo Bielsa in his first summer at Elland Road.
Douglas may not have done as well at Leeds as he did at Wolves but the Scottish left-back must have been very complimentary about the Yorkshire giants to tempt Costa into his move.
“He spoke to me and asked a bit about the club, what it’s like, the team, style of play,” said Douglas, as quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“Again, you can only tell him so much, you need to see it for yourself and experience it for yourself.
“Obviously I told him about how big the club is, the ambition and that we’ve got a really good group of players, so it would be a positive to have him come in.
“Once I’d sold it to him he just needed to come and find out for himself.”
It was quite wise of Costa to seek advice from Douglas before joining Leeds.
The two played together quite a lot at Molineux and clearly there is an element of trust between them.
Douglas’ praise of Leeds must have been big considering Costa pre-agreed a permanent move to the club, making him their most expensive signing since the turn of the 21st Century.
Costa hasn’t impressed a lot of fans but we hope that in his second season under Bielsa, he can show the kind of improvement that Jack Harrison has.
In other Leeds United news, fans are in full agreement with Phil Hay after his article about this Elland Road ace.