Former Leeds United winger Hélder Costa and goalkeeper Joel Robles reunite at Estoril Praia one year after leaving the West Yorkshire side. Robles and Costa’s signings were just a day apart as the club confirmed both on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Costa was a loanee at Leeds in the 2019-20 season which saw The Whites gain promotion to the Premier League. The Angolan forward penned a permanent deal with the West Yorkshire outfit just days before promotion. Hélder was an indispensable asset under Marcelo Bielsa but couldn’t prove his iron in the Premier League.
He made more appearances as a loanee for Leeds than when he was a permanent player. This fall from grace led Costa to two loans for the 21-22 and the 22-23 season. The first loan was at Valencia and the second at Al-Ittihad. Nothing worthwhile came out of the loans at Valencia but Costa reunited with former Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo where he won the Saudi Pro League under the Portuguese manager.
After his loan with Al-Ittihad, Leeds and Costa mutually agreed to terminate his contract and the Angolan has been a free agent up until recently. The former Portuguese international found refuge in Liga Portugal outfit Estoril Praia.
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Leeds United duo reunite at Portuguese club
Credit: Imago Images
A day before Hélder joined the Portuguese outfit, the club had already signed former Leeds teammate Joel Robles from Al-Qadsiah. Joel had joined Leeds in the 22-23 season from Real Betis to cover for Illan Meslier. The Spanish goalkeeper only made four appearances for the club. These four appearances came in the last four games of the 22-23 Premier League season where Leeds got relegated.
The goalkeeper chose to leave the West Yorkshire side following the expiration of his contract. He was then picked up by second-tier Saudi Arabian side Al-Qadsiah where Robles helped the club gain promotion to the first-tier. Following promotion, the Saudi Arabian outfit signed Koen Casteels from Wolfsburg for their new campaign.
Estoril Praia finished 13th in the league last season well above the relegation zone. The duo will play together probably for the first time since Costa was on loan in Saudi Arabia when Robles was playing for The Whites. As mentioned above the announcement of the signings was made this week on the club’s official website on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
