Journalist Phil Hay has shared the latest information he’s heard on Helder Costa’s future at Leeds United.
Speaking on The Square Ball Podcast, the forgotten 29-year-old’s time at the club was discussed.
Leeds spent much of this summer hoping that many of their best players wouldn’t move on.
Unfortunately, clauses in many player’s contracts meant they were able to leave on loan with the club unable to stop them.
The likes of Wilfried Gnonto stayed despite their best efforts to find a new club and results have now started to pick up.
Leeds also made some astute additions, with Ethan Ampadu and Joel Piroe looking like fantastic signings already.
One player many Leeds fans would have been actively hoping would leave in the summer was Helder Costa.
The nine-time Angolan international has spent the last two seasons on loan at Valencia and Al-Ittihad respectively.
However, Costa couldn’t secure a move in the summer, meaning his short-term future means he’s going to be at Leeds until January.
When the next transfer window rolls around, the 29-year-old may finally move on.
Costa set for future away from Leeds
Speaking about the winger’s current situation, Hay said: “We’ll see what happens, the expectation was that he [Helder Costa] would go.
“I mean as [Daniel] Farke said himself, Costa had said that he wanted to leave hence why he wasn’t involved at all over the summer and there’s simply no way he can be reintegrated now.
“He hasn’t trained through pre-season, he isn’t familiar with what Farke’s doing, he’s been training on his own.
“There was the Turkish window as well which would have been an option. I think we expected that he probably would go back to Saudi but nothing has developed there.
“One of a handful of things is going to have to happen here. Either they terminate his contract or when they get around to January they find somewhere for him to go for six months so that he can burn down what’s left of his deal and move on.
“Or he just sits tight until the end of the season and moves on as a free agent when his contract runs out.”
Costa has ended up being one of the few players to go from Saudi Arabia back to England this summer, rather than the other way around.
As Costa hasn’t worked with Farke at all this summer, his chances of having a future at Leeds past this season are virtually zero.
It would take a huge turnaround for him to somehow work his way back into the manager’s thinking.
He was reportedly given an ultimatum earlier this month but no action was taken.
No one at the club seems to mind if he departs which should make his eventual exit rather straightforward.