Ahead of the January 2019 transfer window, Samu Saiz very much wanted to leave Leeds United.
The Spaniard had an urge to return home and his Championship club were happy to help him achieve it. So much so that he was allowed to move to Getafe midway through December.
He couldn’t be registered and available to play until the winter market had opened, yet off he went and left Leeds with a gap in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad.
The idea was that he’d impress at Getafe and they’d turn the loan from Leeds into a permanent transfer during the summer window. That wasn’t to be, and Saiz didn’t have the impact in La Liga that he’d have hoped for.
Leading up to the summer window there wasn’t a great deal of interest in the player, and that presented a worry of what would happen next for a player who was absolutely set on remaining in Spanish football.
Towards the end of July, second division Girona came in and agreed a permanent transfer with Leeds United for an undisclosed fee.
Again, Saiz has found it hard to impose himself, yet Sunday was very much a bright point.
On the bench against Las Palmas, the 28 year old got less than 40 minutes, yet Marca still have him as their Man of the Match. He came on, helped Girona win a penalty, and generally impressed with his creative performance.
There’s a reasonable chance some of the fee agreed with Leeds United includes a bonus should Girona be promoted, and they’re currently 10th out of 22 teams in the division.
