OPINION
Samu Saiz, Leeds’ creative dynamo, left his club in the lurch when he returned to Spain in December. He went back to Spain, citing personal reasons, and joined Getafe on loan, but it hasn’t worked out for him there and we think Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani have made a huge mistake.
Getting rid of him quickly was the right thing to do – Leeds didn’t need a player who could have disrupted the other players. If he didn’t want to be there, Leeds were right to send him packing.
However, Getafe have no obligation to buy in the summer, just a £6million option, and in six appearances for the La Liga side, Saiz has started just two games and has been dropped for the past three.
According to TeamTalk, Getafe won’t be taking up the option and Saiz has no intention of returning to England, with Spain seen as the only option for both him and his family.
That leaves Saiz in limbo and unless another club comes in, Leeds will be picking up his wages from the end of the season.
Another loan is an option but, with money short at Leeds, they really need to recoup at least the £3million the spent on the attacker. At his peak he could easily have gone for almost double that and it seems completely remiss that Leeds didn’t write in an obligation to buy for £6million in any loan deal over the winter window.
That mistake has come back to bite Radrizzani and Orta as they look to rebuild their squad in the summer after hopefully securing Premier League football.
Every penny will be needed and with Saiz rotting on Getafe’s bench, it’s unlikely anyone will be willing to spend anywhere near £3million on him in the summer, especially, as seems likely, he will end up in the Spanish second tier next season.