It’s been a good couple of days on the transfer front for Leeds United, with Marcelo Bielsa even landing his top summer target yesterday in the form of Wolverhampton Wanderers forward, Helder Costa.

Leeds have secured the service of Costa on a year loan deal, which will become permanent in the summer of 2020, with the 25-year-old agreeing a four-year deal from then that will run until the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

A report from Leeds Live has indicated that all in the Costa deal is costing Leeds around £15m, which will be their most expensive signing since 2001, when the club were rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite in the Champions League.

It’s big money for a club that’s been stranded in the second-tier for well over a decade, and the deal has its pros and cons.

Here then are two of each as we dissect the Costa arrival…

Pros

It’s a sign of ambition from Andrea Radrizzani

Radrizzani, despite doing so much right for Leeds, is a man that divides opinion at Elland Road.

The recent sale of Jack Clarke was met by the usual set of fans moaning about a lack of ambition, but splashing the cash on Costa combats that.

£15m is a significant sum to lay out on any deal for Leeds, and the Italian has gone a long way to showing he means business.

Costa’s proven quality in the Championship

Costa has had three years at Wolves – two in the Championship and one in the Premier League.

In those two years in the Championship, the 25-year-old scored 15 goals and laid on 14 assists for Wolves, as well as adding a promotion to his CV.

This isn’t a stab in the dark from Leeds, it is significant money spent on a player that fits their 4-1-4-1 system and style of play, with experience of the division and what it takes to get out of it.

With him in the side, promotion feels a real possibility.

Cons

Upsetting other members of the squad

 

You’d imagine that with Costa arriving in such a big deal his wages will be high.

So, in that sense, Costa’s arrival risks upsetting other members of the Leeds squad who were so impressive last season.

It’s the case at nearly every club, but others might now be looking for a rise.

The risk of promotion failure

 

If Leeds don’t go up next May, it leaves them in a precarious position heading into the summer.

Costa will arrive, but that might mean that others have to be sold and you can’t imagine Bielsa sticking around for a third year in the Championship.

The breakdown of this transfer might ease FFP on Leeds, but it feels like ‘make or break’ for the Whites heading into the new season.