Leeds struck gold by selling £20m star who's being outscored by Joseph

The January transfer window officially closed for business on Monday of last week and Leeds United did not make a single first-team addition to their squad.

Despite their rivals making moves to bolster their squads, notably Sheffield United’s swoops for Tom Cannon and Ben Brereton Diaz and Sunderland’s move for Enzo Le Fee, the Whites opted against any winter deals.

The West Yorkshire outfit are currently competing for promotion to the Premier League and they are sat at the top of the Championship table as it stands, hoping that the squad from the first half of the season can remain consistent and push them over the line.

Daniel Farke‘s men beat Coventry City 2-0 in their last league matches, which included Joel Piroe taking his tally for the season to 13 goals in the second tier.

The Dutch forward was, however, rested for the 2-0 defeat to Millwall in the FA Cup, as Mateo Joseph led the line for the Whites and failed to take his opportunity to impress.

Football FanCast published an article imploring Farke to instantly drop the Spaniard after the match, which was another blow to his chances of being a regular starter for Leeds.

Mateo Joseph’s form this season

The Spain U21 international started the 2024/25 campaign as the first-choice number nine ahead of Piroe in the Championship, but failed to make sure that he retained his place in the side.

Joseph started the first eight matches of the season, in the second tier, and only scored one goal, which was a close-range finish in the 2-0 win over Hull City at Elland Road.

The young marksman, simply, did not offer enough of a threat in the final third and was eventually replaced by Piroe, who, as aforementioned, has racked up 13 goals in the Championship this season.

At the age of 21, Joseph still has plenty of time left to develop and improve as a player in the years to come, but the Whites will hope that he can add more consistency to his performances at the top end of the pitch as soon as possible, with promotion on the line this season.

As you can see in the table above, the Leeds striker has not made the most of the high-quality opportunities that his teammates have created for him this season, as he has underperformed his xG by roughly two goals.

The 21-year-old gem has, however, created four ‘big chances’ in 11 starts, which shows that he does offer a decent amount of creativity as a centre-forward, but it is his finishing that, clearly, still needs a lot of work before he can be a regular starter in the Championship for Farke.

Despite Joseph’s struggles this season, the Spanish attacker has still managed to outscore a player who Leeds sold for a huge amount of money last year.

Leeds hit the jackpot selling £20m star

Back in February of last year, Premier League side Bournemouth agreed a fee of £20m to sign Colombia international Luis Sinisterra from the Whites ahead of the summer transfer window.

Leeds had snapped the forward up from Dutch club Feyenoord in the summer of 2022, for a reported fee of £21m, as Jesse Marsch brought him in to bolster his attack for the 2022/23 campaign.

Unfortunately, the young winger missed a whopping 16 games through injury, suffering muscle, ankle, and foot issues throughout the Premier League season.

As you can see in the table above, Sinisterra did offer a decent goal threat in the matches that he was available for but failed to offer anything in the way of creativity.

Leeds opted to send him out on loan to Bournemouth for the 2023/24 campaign after they were relegated to the Championship, and he went on to score two goals and provide two assists in 20 Premier League games for the Cherries.

He did enough to earn a £20m move to the Vitality Stadium and it currently looks as though the Whites hit the jackpot by cashing in on him for that amount of money.

How Luis Sinisterra’s 24/25 season has gone so far

The 25-year-old forward officially completed his move to Bournemouth last summer and this has been his first season as a permanent player at the club.

Unfortunately, his injury issues have continued to plague him. The Colombian attacker is currently sidelined with a hamstring issue that has kept him out of action since October, causing him to miss 18 matches and counting.

This suggests that the Whites played a blinder by recouping £20m for the winger because the injury issues that disrupted his time at Elland Road have continued to cause him issues on the south coast.

His performances in the Premier League, when fit, this season also do not suggest that the £20m spent on his services has been good value for money for the Cherries so far.

As you can see in the table above, Sinisterra has offered a decent, but not outstanding, at the top end of the pitch for Bournemouth in the top-flight when available this season.

The Colombia international has, therefore, scored two fewer league goals and registered two fewer assists than Joseph in the league, albeit at different levels, this term.

Sinisterra has not offered enough, in terms of quality in the final third or availability to be selected, to justify the money spent to secure his services last summer, which suggests that Leeds hit the jackpot by cashing in on him for a fee of £20m.

The West Yorkshire outfit will, now, be hoping that the Bournemouth flop does not go on to prove them massively wrong, and that Joseph can improve his output in the final third as he gains more first-team experience.