Leeds United had some excellent players in their squad back in the 2019/20 campaign, the season they got promoted back to the Premier League.
The Whites’ core of the squad was built upon homegrown hero Kalvin Phillips, who went on to become a key player for England and earned himself a major move to Manchester City.
Patrick Bamford was entering his very best years that season, too. The Englishman scored 16 goals and grabbed four assists for the Yorkshire side across competitions in the promotion season. Club legend Pablo Hernandez was also on fire with 18 goal involvements.
One of the more underrated players in that campaign was Helder Costa, although he did struggle to adapt to life in the top flight.
Costa's transition from Championship to Premier League
Costa’s impact in the Championship during Leeds’ promotion campaign was excellent. The attacker, who was on loan for that season in the second tier, scored four goals and grabbed five assists in 43 games.
In total, he played 2956 minutes under the legendary Marcelo Bielsa, featuring for the equivalent of 32 full 90-minute games. Mainly playing on the right wing, the attacker was a key part of the Whites’ side that finally took them back to the first tier.
Costa signed for the club permanently for £16m in 2020, but his time in the Premier League was nowhere near as easy. He was far less of a key player in the 2020/21 campaign, the year in which football was played behind closed doors due to COVID-19.
In total, the Angola international played 22 times in the top flight that term, scoring three goals and assisting three times. Two of those strikes came in the second game of the season, in the excellent 4-3 win over Fulham.
It was not the impact Costa may have hoped for in the Premier League, and he soon departed on several loans before his contract expired.
Leeds' modern-day Costa repeat
Well, in a season in which they are once again chasing promotion, perhaps Leeds have the 2024/25 version of Costa in their squad.
Manor Solomon has had an important role to play for Leeds this season. The winger has contributed seven goals and eight assists as his side fight for promotion back to the Premier League.
However, as it was with Costa, it has not been plain sailing for the Whites’ number 14 this season. After an assist on the opening day of the campaign, he went seven games without contributing a goal and has recently just ended an eight-game goal involvement drought. There are certainly similar levels of inconsistency.
With that being said, the winger has chipped in with some important goals at key times. One of those moments came against Oxford United, in a 4-0 win for Leeds, where Solomon scored once and assisted twice.
According to a report in March from GiveMeSport, the Yorkshire outfit are looking to make the 25-year-old’s loan move from Tottenham Hotspur permanent. Ben Jacobs explained they are currently working on “trying to buy” the attacker this summer.
He is a player who has featured in the Premier League before, for Fulham and Spurs. However, with just four goals and two assists in 24 games in the English top flight, are Leeds fans looking at another player who could struggle at the highest level?
The stats, via Sofascore, suggest that Solomon has not really performed well in the Premier League yet. In his only full season in the top flight for Fulham, he managed just six key passes and just 19 dribbles across the campaign.
Goals
4
0.6
Key passes
6
0.9
Dribbles completed
19
2.9
Tackles and interceptions
26
4.1
Expected goal involvements
1.92
0.3xGI
If Solomon does make the permanent switch to Elland Road, the Leeds faithful will no doubt be hoping life in the Premier League will be easier, given they don’t slip up in their promotion bid, of course.
Former Leeds manager Neil Redfern once described him as “unplayable”, and their fans will certainly be hoping that version of the 25-year-old will be on show if they get promoted.
If not, it could be a repeat of the Costa situation under Bielsa.
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