By admin 
Helder Costa played a professional match for the first time in three months on Thursday after coming off the bench to play for Angola – with the Leeds United winger still expected to leave the club very soon.
Costa, 29, has not played for Leeds since August 24, 2021. A 3-0 win in the Carabao Cup over Crewe Alexandra. A game where Jack Harrison netted a brace and Kalvin Phillips got one under Marcelo Bielsa.
Since then, Costa has gone on loan to Valencia – no goals in 27 games. Last season, he played on loan under Nuno Espirito Santo at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad, winning the league. Three goals in 20 games.
Costa is now back at Leeds. Quite amazingly, he still has a year left on his contract at Leeds. Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post claimed this week that Leeds could end up releasing the winger
On Thursday, Costa played for Angola. His first professional outing since his last game for Angola, a 2-1 win over the Central African Republic on June 17. His last club game, including friendlies, was on May 31.
Helder Costa plays first professional match in three months
Bizarre, how quickly – and badly – Costa’s career has fallen by the wayside. He cost Leeds a figure of £15m when Leeds were promoted to the Premier League in the summer of 2020. Big clubs on his CV.
No doubt, his agent Jorge Mendes will find him another big move in the coming days and weeks. There are windows that are still open. Leeds will surely prefer to just get him off the wage bill this month.