When Noel Whelan spoke to Football Insider, he had some harsh words regarding Leeds United winger Helder Costa.
Costa has failed to score in the Championship this season, with his biggest contribution being just one assist. The 25-year-old was left out of the starting XI in the Luton Town match, despite starting against Blackburn in Leeds’ last league outing. It’s likely that Marcelo Bielsa preferred Pablo Hernandez due to the Portuguese winger’s poor return in front of goal.
When Noel Whelan spoke exclusively to Football Insider. he said: “Costa has much more to give. He has been a bystander at times. He needs to be far more involved and much more effective in his defensive play.” That might actually be a fair assessment as the pundit sums up Costa’s season so far. The 25-year-old only averages 14.9 passes per match, which means he’s not scoring, assisting or creating anything of real note for the Whites at the moment.
After looking at all the stats, ‘bystander‘ appears to be the perfect term for the Portuguese winger. Costa doesn’t even manage one shot per game; he’s currently averaging 0.7 shots per Championship match.
According to Leeds United, Costa “joined Leeds United from Wolverhampton Wanderers on an initial one-year loan deal, which will become a permanent transfer next summer for an undisclosed fee.”
Verdict
Hopefully, Costa, who is valued at £10.8 million (Transfermarkt), can now be used as a ‘super-sub’ that can try to impact the last 20-30 minutes of a game, as the 25-year-old clearly gets lost when starting and playing the full 90 minutes. He is currently averaging a very poor WhoScored rating of 6.38/10, which is the fourth-lowest in the entire Leeds squad.
We believe that Hernandez should now play in the position Costa was filling, with the Spaniard scoring and assisting twice in just 11 Championship games so far this season, proving to be much more of a goalscoring asset than the 25-year-old.