Helder Costa has less than two months to save Leeds United career
Helder Costa faces a race against time to secure his spot in the Leeds United squad for next season with his loan spell at Valencia ending in less than two months.
Costa, 28, joined Valencia on a season-long loan in the summer but has over struggled to impress during his temporary stay at the Mestalla.
The former Wolves and Benfica winger has played 24 times in all competitions for Valencia this term. However, despite his regular game-time, the Angola international has failed to score a single goal and supplied just two assists.
In the last month or so, Costa has – unsurprisingly – found game-time harder to come by with the Leeds loanee playing just 21 minutes’ worth of football in Valencia’s last five La Liga matches.
He’s made 11 starts for them this season but has now found himself on the fringes at the Mestalla and struggling to show to his paymasters at Leeds that he can be of use for Jesse Marsch next season.
Whether Leeds are in the Premier League or Championship is still up in the air. Obviously, it’s more likely that we’re staying up but even if we do go down, the £16million 2020 signing from Wolves is unlikely to even have much of an impact at Elland Road in the second-tier.
Costa’s had his chances at Leeds and failed to take them. He’s now had chances at Valencia and has struggled there too.
It seems that top-flight football in major European nations isn’t for the Angolan winger.
Spanish news outlet Super Deporte reported on 15 December that Valencia would have to pay around £16.6million to take Costa permanently from Leeds and also pay him £2.5million-a-year, which works out to roughly £48,000-a-week.
There’s absolutely no way Los Che will be paying that based upon Costa’s role within their squad right now, which means the chances of his loan deal at the Mestalla being turned into a permanent one are slim to none.
And what would Leeds want to do with a player who’s clearly on a downward spiral despite being at the peak age of his senior career?
Valencia’s final game of the season is currently scheduled to take place on 22 May against Celta Vigo.
He has less than two months to save his Leeds career.
And it has to be a massive couple of months by the Angolan to prove that he’s worthy of keeping a spot at Elland Road past the end of the next summer transfer window.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared what Marsch told him about Marcelo Bielsa at Thorp Arch.