Leeds United’s young forward Kun Temenuzhkov appears to be nearing a move back to Spain after revealing he arrived at Barcelona airport, with reports suggesting a move to Lleida Esportiu is close.

The Bulgarian forward arrived at Elland Road with great promise having come through the ranks of Barcelona’s famous La Masia and had a great impact in the youth setup at Leeds, helping the under-18s side to a league title back in April 2018, scoring the title-winning goal with a deft header against Bolton Wanderers.

There was a buzz around his signing, having been highly rated at the Catalan giants but he has since failed to make a first-team impact, with just one appearance coming in the FA Cup defeat to QPR last January.

Having signed a new contract in the summer just gone, it appears that Temenuzhkov is on his way out of Leeds after reports emerged on Wednesday that he was close to a move back to Spain with Segunda B division side Lleida Esportiu.

The 19-year-old has fuelled even more speculation that a deal is almost complete after he posted on his Instagram story a photo of him waiting for his luggage at Barcelona airport:

The forward looks set to end two-and-a-half years at the club by moving back to Spain and not far from Barcelona as he stays in Catalonia with Lleida.

Can you name the season in which these 14 Leeds United images were taken?

The verdict

It is a shame to see that a signing that held such promise when announced hasn’t worked out quite the way that people expected it to.

Temenuzhkov is clearly a very talented player and is only 19-years-old so has plenty of time to prove that in his career, but it was clear that he was not going to make waves under Marcelo Bielsa.

A move to the Segunda B division could prove very beneficial for him as he will be getting a lot of first-team exposure, compared to virtually none at Leeds over the last three seasons.

Leeds have an embarrassment of riches in terms of young players coming through and they probably won’t lose too much sleep over this deal, but it is still a shame that it didn’t work out.