Borja Baston was released by Aston Villa in June but he is already becoming a key player at his new club Leganes with the club’s coach hailing his contributions to the cause, as reported by BeSoccer.
It feels a long time ago now that Baston was scoring 18 goals in a single La Liga season for tiny Eibar, finishing just shy of Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann in the Pichichi picture.
After all, he has scored just 15 times in league football since then – less than he managed during that remarkable breakthrough campaign in the top flight of Spanish football.
Baston has been less-than-prolific since returning to his homeland with recently relegated Leganes but do not assume that a man who barely kicked a ball at Aston Villa is struggling to make a positive impression.
The one-time Atletico Madrid youngster is proving invaluable with his work off the ball for a club sitting fourth in the Segunda table and just five points off top spot.
“The feeling we have is that he is in good form,” coach Josep Lluis Marti says. “He would obviously like to have more chances (to score) but he is a player who gives us many chances.
“He is able to hold the ball up, to protect it, to wait for his teammates – and he does a tremendous defensive job.”
Of course, when you sign a striker, you hope that they will also be able to put the ball in the back of the net. And, scoring twice so far for Leganes, Baston can certainly improve in that department.
But a man Swansea City once paid a club-record £15 million for will just be glad to play regular first-team football again after managing just 16 minutes across two substitute appearances for Aston Villa.
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