Let's cast our minds back nearly ten years. Leeds United are in the Championship but they have one of the best attacking midfielders in the club's history playing for them.

He went by the name of Pablo Hernandez. He was really rather good.

At Elland Road, Hernandez won three consecutive Player of the Year awards from 2017/18 through to 2019/20 and left with 36 goals and 41 assists in 175 matches.

He was a magical player; no one they signed was ever going to come close to him. That includes Samu Saiz. Remember him?

What went wrong for Samu Saiz at Leeds

In July 2017, Leeds signed a cult hero in the form of Gjanni Alioski. At the same time, Saiz arrived in a mere £3m deal from Huesca in Spain.

On paper, this was an exciting signing. He looked like one of the best up-and-coming attacking midfielders on Spanish shores, having scored 12 goals and assisted seven during his final season in the Segunda division, the second tier.

Sadly for the Spaniard, he was never able to follow in the footsteps of Pablo; he was a rather poor understudy in comparison.

Unfortunately, his time at the club will be remembered more for his indiscipline than it was his performances on the pitch. Indeed, during a spell littered with inconsistency, he was banned for six games after spitting at a Newport County player during a 2-1 FA Cup defeat.

Saiz had only been on the pitch for 15 minutes before he clashed with Robbie Willmott. "My actions are inexcusable," he said in a statement after the incident. "I give my word to all those connected to Leeds United Football Club that I will learn from this situation and never repeat it."

As far as his performances were concerned, five goals and seven assists in the league during his debut campaign at Elland Road is not a bad tally by any stretch of the imagination. However, he was simply too inconsistent.

While he had very good close control, dribbling, creativity and the ability to unlock packed defences, he didn't show that on a regular enough basis.

That was evident during his second season. After 19 goalless Championship games, he joined Getafe on loan in January 2019 and at the end of the season, exited Yorkshire permanently, heading for Girona.

So, why is this all relevant now? Well, it looks like another Saiz has emerged at Elland Road.

Leeds must send their new Samu Saiz packing

The current iteration of this Leeds team is the best they have put together in the last 20 years. Not since the days of Champions League football has a Leeds squad been packed to the brim with such an array of talent.

Daniel Farke has his band playing to his tune and they currently sit fifth in the Premier League as a result; they are unbeaten.

However, it is certainly not all sunshine and rainbows for every player in the Leeds camp right now. New signings over the last year have strengthened the squad, meaning some of the promotion heroes of 2024/25 have taken a back seat in the Premier League.

That is certainly the case for Willy Gnonto, who is now out loan, as well as midfielder Ilia Gruev. It's also the case for the enigmatic Brenden Aaronson.

Have supporters ever seen such a marmite character in all of their lives? Signed all the way back in 2022 for a fee of £24.7m, his career at Elland Road has looked like it might be over on a few occasions now.

After Leeds' relegation, he moved to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga for the 2023/24 campaign. It looked as though that might be it for the American in Leeds colours. Yet, he's now had another two seasons at Elland Road. Does he deserve another full campaign? Arguably not.

Aaronson, much like Saiz, has been a perplexing character. There might not have been an infamous spitting incident but they have been equally inconsistent.

Like Saiz, on his day, Aaronson is a real livewire. He's a fine dribbler, he's creative and he can score goals. It's just a pity we've never seen more regular goal contributions.

His best campaign remains the Championship promotion-winning one of 2024/25. He has never been able to cut the mustard in the Premier League.

Last term, the USA star scored just four goals and provided five assists. In 2026/27, he is without a goal involvement in five league outings. He did score against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup defeat, but that's all she wrote as far as goals are concerned.

As the weeks tick by, the 25-year-old is becoming more of a fringe player. Aaronson has played in all seven games this season but after starting on the opening weekend against Nottingham Forest, he was subsequently subbed at half-time against Brentford and hasn't been seen in the starting lineup since.

So, if Leeds are looking for a way to clear their wage bill, perhaps it is finally time to cut their losses. The attacking midfielder has shown over an even greater period of time than Saiz that he simply isn't good enough.