Samu Saiz was allowed to leave Championship table toppers Leeds United this summer, returning to Spain with Girona.
Samu Saiz is almost the definition of a luxury player.
On his day, the former Leeds United playmaker was one of the most influential footballers in the Championship, a man capable of producing something out of nothing and bamboozling defenders with a slight swing of the hips and a rapid one-two.
There were even occasions where he, rather than the evergreen Pablo Hernandez, looked like the most gifted footballer in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad.
Unfortunately, for every dazzling display there were three of four games where Saiz was completely anonymous. And with Leeds’ fearsome commander demanding nothing less than near perfection from his foot-soldiers, it was no surprise when the combustible Saiz was discharged from the Bielsa boot camp.
‘He’s suffering’
A return to Spain with Girona looked like the perfect opportunity at the perfect time for a player who never appeared to be fully settled in West Yorkshire, though Saiz is yet to rediscover his golden touch since heading to Barcelona.
There was an impressive 33-minute cameo in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Las Palmas but the 28-year-old is yet to prove that he deserves a regular place in Juan Carlos Unzue’s starting XI. And the former Barcelona assistant has now shed a light on why Saiz, despite having the ability most players can only dream of, has made four of his five Girona appearances off the bench.
“If he has not played, it’s because (the other players) were better suited to the game in question,” Unzue told Ara, harbouring hope that Saiz can still adapt to life at the Montilivi.
“He has a lot of talent but he is very different from the game we play here. Now, he is suffering but growing.”
It seems that Unzue knows how Bielsa felt.
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