Leeds United’s best signings under Marcelo Bielsa as chosen by fans

The Yorkshire Evening Post asked Leeds United fans on Twitter to pick who they think is the best first team signing under the 64-year-old Argentine so far. We gave fans four options to choose from; Jack Harrison, Patrick Bamford, Helder Costa, and Illan Meslier. Here’s what they voted:

4. Helder CostaOut of 757 votes, just 3.4% of fans think Helder Costa is the best signing under Bielsa. Helder Costa joined Leeds from Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 2019. He initially signed on a season-long loan before completing his £16m move to Leeds the following summer, putting pen-to-paper on a four-year deal.

The 26-year-old Portuguese winger, who had previous stints at Deportivo and Monaco, arrived to Leeds after featuring 25 times for Wolves in the Premier League, where he scored just one goal and got two assists. However, Costa had an impressive first two seasons at Wolves. In 2016-17, the forward scored 11 and got nine assists in 37 games in total, and in Wolves’ title-winning Championship campaign the season after, Costa scored five and teed up six goals in 36 league appearances.

Costa was then snapped up by Leeds but he had a pretty lacklustre first season at Elland Road, delivering just five goals and six assists in 45 total appearances. This season however, Costa has adapted well to life in the Premier League, scoring two goals and teeing up one goal in just four league games.

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3. Illan MeslierIn third place with 17% of the vote is goalkeeper, Illan Meslier. The French shot stopper, who has collected two caps for the France Under-20s, made the switch from Ligue 2 side FC Lorient at the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign, signing for Leeds on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

He initially joined up with the Under-23s at Thorp Arch and would eventually make his first team debut for the Whites in the FA Cup third round. On January 6 2020, and despite losing 1-0, Meslier put in an impressive performance against Premier League side Arsenal away at the Emirates, a performance which caught the eye of Leeds fans.

Meslier would soon find himself in the first team on a regular basis and was solid in between the sticks for the Whites as he kept seven clean sheets in just ten league games. After impressing Bielsa, Leeds paid FC Lorient the £5m fee to sign the youngster on a three-year deal in time for their first season in the Premier League for 16 years. At the age of just 20, his professional footballing career has got off to an amazing start.

2. Patrick BamfordBamford only just beat Meslier in the vote, with 19.4% of fans having him as the best signing under Marcelo Bielsa.

Leeds signed Bamford in the summer of 2018 from Championship rivals Middlesbrough for a fee in the region of £9m. It was a big price tag at the time as Bamford became Leeds’ most expensive signing since they paid £18m for defender Rio Ferdinand in November 2000. Naturally with the price tag, Bamford was under a lot of pressure to perform and carried a lot of weight on his shoulder.

The striker started his career at Nottingham Forest, making his first team debut on 31 December 2011, and a month later joined Premier League side Chelsea for a fee of £1.5m. The Blues then loaned him out to MK Dons, Derby County and Middlesbrough in 2014, which is where his career started to take off. In the 2014-15 season, Bamford played one EFL Cup match in which he scored, and featured 40 times in the league, scoring 17 goals and getting 2 assists which saw him named the Championship Player Of The Year.

He then had further short spells on loan at Crystal Palace, Norwich City, and Burnley at which he scored no goals, before returning to Middlesbrough on a permanent basis in 2017 for a fee in the region of £5.5m.

The 2017-18 season saw Bamford feature twice in the EFL Cup, scoring two goals, and 41 times in the league, where he delivered just 11 goals - three of which came on a night to forget for Leeds, as his hat-trick secured a 3-0 victory over the Whites at the Riverside.

So, the Leeds United fans knew what Bamford was capable of, however, he ended up splitting opinion in his first season in West Yorkshire as he scored just ten goals and got two assists in 25 games, not delivering what was expected of him, albeit an injury hindered his ability to get a decent run in the first team and go above Kemar Roofe in the pecking order.

In his second season at Leeds, despite having strong competition from loanees Eddie Nketiah and then Jean-Kevin Augustin, Bamford held his place in the starting eleven and the number nine shirt was his during United’s title-winning campaign. Again though, he split opinion amongst supporters as he scored just 16 goals and got two assists in 46 games overall.

However, Bamford has got off to a great start in the Premier League this season, despite only scoring just one in 27 top-flight games heading in this campaign. The striker has netted three times for Leeds this season and has assisted one goal in the opening four league games, just three off leading goal scorers Son Heung-Min and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

1. Jack HarrisonThe winner of the poll with a whopping 60.1% of the vote is 23-year-old winger, Jack Harrison. The Englishman is currently in his third season on loan from Manchester City, however, Leeds do have the option to buy Harrison for £10m next summer.

For a 23-year-old, Jack Harrison possesses an impressive CV. From 2016 to 2017, Harrison was playing football for New York City with the likes of footballing legend Andre Pirlo. During his two years in the states, the forward made 59 appearances, scoring 14 goals and getting 9 assists.

He signed for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in 2018 and was immediately sent out on loan to Middlesbrough where he made just four appearances for the first team, before moving to Leeds on loan in 2018.

In his first season at Elland Road, Harrison delivered just three assists and four goals in 41 appearances, but Bielsa insisted on him returning on loan the following season and the forward seemingly improved by scoring six and assisting eight goals in 48 games, helping Leeds lift the Championship title.

Jack Harrison returned to West Yorkshire for another loan spell at Leeds, and so far he has scored 1 goal and got 1 assist to his name after playing just three Premier League games.

After just two full seasons at Leeds, and as the poll suggests, Jack Harrison has quickly become a fan favourite at Leeds United.