When Raphinha came in, Hélder Costa got less minutes and became less useful to Leeds. He was mostly on the bench and rarely completed 90 minutes last season.
Yeah, he did have his moments, but they were few and far in between. For the most part, he would hang out on the right wing and rarely put in a threatening cross or take a risk to get into a goalscoring opportunity. This transfer is great for him and should allow him to rejuvenate his career.
Sort of...my memory's quite hazy in that respect, but here's what I remember. In the summer of 2014, when he had 1 year left on his contract, United agreed Cleverley's transfer to Villa, and Cleverley was set to sign for them, too. At the last second, however, Everton expressed their interested, and Cleverley rejected Villa as a result. Everton offered a lower fee, which United rejected, but Cleverley's head being turned and Everton's unwillingness to offer more money meant that Cleverley couldn't be sold then. Eventually, Cleverley left as a free agent, so I can see why United wouldn't be happy with Everton about their last-second interference.
If memory serves he actually still went to Villa on loan anyway (partly, reputedly, because Keane went apeshit on the phone at him) before eventually ending up at Everton.
They're focusing on him because of his previous spell at La Masia. I'm not surprised that the club will go all in to bring back one of their academy products, especially when the player becomes willing to come back.
He was pretty good at carrying the ball forward, and was an important outlet from the right before Raphinha joined. Not sure why they weren't able to fit him or Raphinha ahead of Harrison on the left.
Every sport, every field, even this world is like that. Wealth is becoming more and more concentrated.
Absolutely brilliant signings. The icing on the cake would have been a top DM. Maybe January eh.
