As Leeds United prepared for the start of the 2017/18 season after yet another disappointing campaign, an impressive transfer window was needed to lift the spirits of the fans.

Thomas Christiansen seemed more than aware of this as well and set about assembling a squad he felt could finally take the Whites back into the top flight.

Pontus Jansson, Samu Saiz, Hadi Sacko, Jay-Roy Grot and Ouasim Bouy all struck deals with the club to much excitement and anticipation.

But one arrival grabbed the attention more than others and that was the signing of Vurnon Anita from Newcastle United.

This is FLW Rewind where we take a look back at an important decision in a club's recent history, analyse the initial reaction and see how things panned out.

The Dutchman arrived at United with a huge amount of experience. He had made over 150 appearances for Newcastle United with 106 of those coming in the Premier League.

If Christiansen was serious about taking Leeds up, this was a very good statement to make.

It was widely viewed as a huge transfer coup from the jubilant Leeds fans as well at the time. Newcastle fans were sceptical about getting rid of him which could only be a positive for the Whites, right?

But Anita turned out to be a perfect personification of the season to come for Leeds. A huge amount of promise, but ultimately a huge letdown.

Both Christiansen and then Paul Heckingbottom really struggled to fit the former Ajax man into their starting XIs and he was frequently used as a left or right-back despite his predominant position being in defensive midfield.

He started eight of the first nine Championship games and although the team were playing well, it became apparent to Christiansen that crowbarring Anita into his side was not going to work.

Over the remaining months of the season, he was only ever used as a late substitution to see a game out or as cover for an injured player.

It quickly became apparent that there was no real future for the 29-year-old at Elland Road as he finished the campaign having made just 18 league appearances. Not too many for somebody who was supposed to be such a key member of the squad.