Pierre-Michel Lasogga has brought his consistent inconsistencies to Leeds United after moving on loan from Hamburg.
With perennial underachievers Hamburg once again stuck in the Bundesliga’s relegation play-off position and set for another season of struggle, casual observers may be wondering why on earth they were so desperate to get rid of striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga in the summer.
Particularly as Hamburg have scored just seven goals in ten league games and recently went over a month without finding the net. Bild reported in August before Lasogga sealed his season-long loan move to Elland Road that the cash-strapped Hamburg were desperate to get one or two of the club’s highest earners off their wage bill.
And, despite an injury to key attacker Nicolai Muller, the 25-year-old was so far down the pecking order at Markus Gisdol’s side that they saw no problems farming him out on a temporary deal to Leeds.
Two goals in a clinical debut performance against Burton Albion in September suggested that a goal-shy Hamburg had made a huge mistake. Since that stunning start to life in England, however, Lasogga has gone off the boil and hit just two goals in seven league games.
And supporters started to turn on the German for the first time after his ineffective performance during Friday’s 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield United.
Maybe now, Leeds are starting to realise why a Hamburg side so clearly lacking in goalscorers were willing to allow one of their senior strikers to walk out of the club in the summer. Since exploding onto the scene with a prolific 2013/14 season, Lasogga has blown hot and cold while injuries have hampered his progress.
Leeds, too, are now starting to see the two sides to one of German football’s most perplexing enigmas.
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