David Norris expects Helder Costa to exit Leeds United in summer
Ex-Leeds United midfielder David Norris expects Helder Costa to leave Elland Road in the summer and join a club in the Championship.
Costa, 27, hasn’t had the best of spells at Leeds in the last two seasons.
The Portuguese winger was widely criticised by fans during his loan spell from Wolves in the Championship and while he showed glimpses of an improvement in the Premier League after his £16million permanent move, that soon fizzled out.
Norris feels that Costa has proven himself in the second-tier earlier in his career and claims the winger may be better suited to a Championship club next season.
“He’s done it at the level below, and that next step up is big. Sometimes you need the right club at the right time,” Norris told This is Futbol.
“I think he will leave and drop back down – there might be that one club that he does go to, because he does have quality, and it does work out for him, but with that happening, I expect to see him move on now.”
What a waste of money
We were always worried about the pre-agreed permanent option in Costa’s loan deal when Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta signed him from Wolves.
For someone who had struggled in the Premier League at Molineux, it never really filled us with hope that the £16million transfer fee would be justified.
And while we wanted to be wrong we’ve unfortunately been proven right.
Costa just isn’t good enough for a Premier League club with the ambitions of a Leeds or a Wolves.
He may be better suited to a team who’s down there who’s aim is to simply avoid relegation like a Newcastle or a Crystal Palace going into next season. But he’s just not on our level and he never really was in the Championship either.
Costa is one of the most expensive players in Leeds’ history [transfermarkt] and we very much doubt we’ll recoup all of the £16million paid for him.
As the Portuguese winger still has another three years left on his contract, we could see a loan exit being more likely this summer in a bid to retain his transfer value.
In other Leeds United news, this explosive central midfielder has shown that he can be a perfect summer signing for Marcelo Bielsa.