Pablo Hernandez turned 35 yesterday, but the Leeds United playmaker is still making the grade at Elland Road and steering the club towards automatic promotion.  

Leeds have relied on Hernandez’s craft since he arrived on the scene under Garry Monk in 2016, and 150 appearances for the Whites have brought an outstanding 33 goals and 34 assists.

He’s scored six times this season and created a further six goals, underlining his importance without matching the huge statistics he posted last season (24 goal involvements). Yet, Leeds are on course for promotion once more.

Yesterday, on Hernandez’s 35th birthday, his long career was celebrated by the La Liga Twitter account, who shared an incredible throwback of the Spaniard during his Valencia days.

Amongst the footage of three goals was a cool finish against Barcelona, where Hernandez bursts past Carlos Puyol before calmly finishing by opening his body up.

Hernandez was a major hit during his time in Spain, before his career led him to English football and Swansea City.

From there he headed for Qatar, before settling in Leeds, where he is in his fourth season at Elland Road.

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The Verdict  

What a throwback this is.

Hernandez’s craft and calmness on the ball is his trademark at Elland Road, but this footage shows how he has tailored his skill-set as he’s got older.

These bursts into the area (Barcelona) aren’t something we see too much of now, but the other two goals are classic Hernandez efforts where his brain is doing all the work.

A player that should, rightly, be celebrated.

Thoughts? Let us know!

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