Pablo Hernandez is doing as much as any other Leeds United player right now to get them across the line in the Championship promotion race.
In the wake of his stunning performance at the weekend, many Leeds supporters are understandably suggesting that Pablo Hernandez has to be considered the club’s best signing since they fell out of the Premier League in 2004.
The Spaniard has been sensational throughout the campaign, and it would be fair to suggest that no player in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad is doing more out on the pitch to keep Leeds right in the automatic-promotion hunt.
Hernandez has a fantastic chance of claiming the Player of the Year award at Elland Road once again. And if Bielsa’s men get across the line, the 33-year-old will have secured legendary status in Yorkshire.
But while there is no disputing that the deal to sign Hernandez was one of the finest that the club have done – particularly in the last two decades – perhaps the form of one of his teammates is beginning to hint that the deal to bring him to Leeds will prove to be just as much of a masterstroke in the future.
Leeds signed Tyler Roberts from West Brom for an initial £2.5 million, but the Yorkshire Evening Post reports that that fee could ultimately rise to £4 million.
It had not been the easiest start to life at Leeds for Roberts. He signed in January 2018 at a time when the Whites desperately needed an inspired signing to get their faltering play-off bid back on track. However, injury ruled him out for the rest of the season and added to the pressure on his shoulders heading into this campaign.
It did not immediately click under Bielsa either. Roberts did not make his league debut until mid-September and his early performances only offered glimpses of his quality.
However, his recent run in the side as a number 10 has seen Roberts make a much greater contribution. His goal tally may not be where he would like it, but he has shown that he is a special talent who has that piece of magic up his sleeve that Hernandez has provided on a regular basis over the last 12 months.
He is still some way off being as important to the team as Hernandez currently is. But the potential is there, and £4 million is already starting to look like a bargain.
If he continues to work alongside Bielsa and Hernandez, then Roberts perhaps has every chance of being loved in the same way that the Spaniard is as he continues to push Leeds towards the finishing line this season.
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