Leeds star who was sold by Bielsa now plays in Turkish 2nd tier

Leeds United ended their three-year keep within the Premier League on the finish of the 2022/23 marketing campaign as they have been relegated again right down to the Championship.

The Whites had been promoted to the top-flight again in the summertime of 2020 after Marcelo Bielsa led the workforce to the second division title in his second season on the membership.

He was an enormous success at Elland Highway and made quite a few spectacular selections over the course of his keep in Yorkshire, together with the sale of former Leeds star Samu Saiz, who he performed a blinder with.

Samu Saiz’s profession at Leeds

The membership swooped to signal the Spanish maestro from Huesca in the summertime of 2017, and he caught the attention all through his debut season in England underneath Thomas Christiansen and, then, Paul Heckingbottom.

Usually deployed as a quantity ten in a 4-2-3-1 system, the right-footed whiz supplied high quality as each a scorer and a creator of objectives all through the 2017/18 marketing campaign.

As you’ll be able to see within the desk above, the Whites midfielder was a star for the membership with contributions on the prime finish of the pitch, provided that he led the workforce in dribbles per match and was second solely to Pablo Hernandez in key passes per sport.

Bielsa then arrived in the summertime of 2018 and described Sainz because the “most expert” participant within the squad. Nevertheless, the Spaniard did not hit the identical heights in entrance of purpose with a return of zero objectives and 4 assists in 19 Championship appearances through the first half of the marketing campaign.

The Argentine boss was ruthless in his method as he allowed the attacking midfielder to go away on mortgage to affix Getafe for the second half of the season, earlier than cashing in on a everlasting foundation in the summertime of 2019.

The place Samu Saiz performs now

It was reported that the gifted gem was not settled in Leeds and wished a return to his residence nation. As a substitute of making an attempt to persuade the 5 foot 9 star to stay at Elland Highway, Bielsa – and sporting director Victor Orta – allowed him to signal for Girona on a everlasting deal forward of the 2019/20 marketing campaign.

Saiz went on to provide 12 objectives and 17 assists in 119 appearances for the Spanish outfit, with nearly all of these video games coming within the second division in Spain, earlier than his transfer to Sivasspor in Turkey in January 2023.

He racked up an attention-grabbing 9 objectives and 7 assists in 35 outings for the membership, after which made the swap to Eyupspor in January of this 12 months.

The previous Leeds whiz is, due to this fact, now taking part in within the second tier of soccer in Turkey, together with his present membership sitting on the prime of the desk because it stands.

Saiz has contributed with one purpose and 0 assists in seven league outings for Eyupspor, and misplaced 72% of his duels, since his transfer from Sivasspor in January.

General, Bielsa performed a blinder with the sale of the Spanish wizard as his profession by no means actually kicked on after his spell in Yorkshire, with an extended spell in Spain’s second tier earlier than a switch to Turkey – exterior of Europe’s main leagues – and now their second tier, while Leeds went on to win promotion to the Premier League.