Leeds reminded of near miss as Abel Hernandez reportedly seeks move

Follow us on Google Discover

Leeds United were reportedly in talks over signing Abel Hernandez last summer, but he ultimately headed elsewhere.

There was a point in the summer where it appeared that Abel Hernandez would be the man tasked with leading the line in Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds side as the Whites looked to sign the Uruguayan on a free transfer after he left Hull City.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that the Whites spent much of the window chasing the 28-year-old, but backed away from a deal when it became apparent that his contract would see him earn around £100,000-a-week with all fees included.

At the time it appeared to be a real setback for Leeds to miss out on Hernandez. Bielsa only had two loan signings through the door at that stage of the window – both of whom have since left Elland Road – and it seemed that the Whites did not already have the kind of ruthless goalscorer to spearhead a promotion bid.

However, less than seven months later, Leeds have been emphatically reminded of the blessing in disguise they seemingly received when Hernandez decided to join CSKA Moscow.

The Uruguay international has scored two goals in nine league appearances for the Russian side, while Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford have been superb for the Whites when they have been available. Leeds may be in a slightly better position if they had been more clinical in front of goal, but they have scored 20 Championship goals between them which is not a bad return given that Bielsa has rarely had both men on the pitch at the same time.

And if they needed further proof that they made the right decision to not meet Hernandez’s demands before they signed Bamford, then perhaps they can take heart from a report from TuttoMercatoWeb, which has suggested that the striker now wants to leave Russia in the hope of returning to Italy.

Had Hernandez had a better time with CSKA, it seems more than likely that he would have little interest in leaving so soon after joining the club.

In fairness, Hernandez’s strike-rate in the Championship is outstanding. But given that Leeds are right in the automatic-promotion hunt with eight games to go while the injury-prone striker is already plotting his next move, it appears that the Elland Road hierarchy have every reason to be delighted that they did not agree to his eye-watering demands.