Former Leeds star and BBC Leeds pundit Noel Whelan has said that “something must have gone seriously wrong” between Samu Saiz and manager Marcelo Bielsa.
After winning his place back in the first-team last week, Saiz has had his exit approved by the club and manager, and he’s currently in Spain for a medical with Getafe.
This shock development comes despite the transfer window not opening until January, with five games between now and January for Leeds.
Talking on BBC Radio Leeds (Friday, 6pm) Whelan said, “He’s obviously spat the dummy out, he’s not good around the changing room.
“Bielsa doesn’t seem like the sort of manager who will put up with anything. If that’s the case he’ll want him straight out the door. You want everyone signing from the same hymn sheet and if he’s not, if he’s a distraction outside on the training field, in the changing room, he’s got to go.
“Something has obviously happened. You don’t let someone go like that with that talent if you’re not replacing him in January. Something has gone seriously wrong between QPR and now. To replace Saiz you need money and we don’t have that money to spend.”
OPINION
The whole Saiz deal does seem very, very odd. Things have been rumoured not to be right for a while, with claims surrounding Saiz’s fitness and the star man losing his place in the first-team. However, the speed of the deal has taken everyone by surprise and from the very first whispers from Spain, it seems to be considered a done deal in 24 hours. For a player who is one of Leeds’ best, that seems odd. If he wanted a move to Spain Leeds could have facilitated that and still utilised him in the next five games. This really smacks of manager Marcelo Bielsa not wanting the player anywhere near the club. We might find out more tomorrow after the game, but it may just get written off as a move that was asked for and granted. We’ve never known anything happen so quickly in football though and we’re assuming that something fairly major has gone on behind the scenes. That’s what Whelan thinks and he also thinks that Saiz isn’t the sort of player that Leeds will have the money to replace. He’s a loss but Leeds must roll up their sleeves and get on with the massive job at hand without him.