We were always going to have this debate at some time, might as well get it out of the way now.
That way we’ll be a lot calmer and collected when the day finally comes. I feel like we do need to start looking ahead to what could possibly be the end of the road for one cult hero at Elland Road, and that’s Pablo Hernandez.
Hernandez is currently 34, and is in the final year of his contract at Elland Road. And as a recent article in The Athletic pointed out, Hernandez has always had a dream of finishing his career in Spain playing for CD Castellon, so it’s not out of the realms of possibility that this could be the final season we see Pablo wearing a white shirt.
So what do we do when he departs, be it this year or in a few seasons time?
I personally think this is exactly the reason we brought in Helder Costa, and perhaps why we aren’t seeing his as much in the first team as we perhaps want to, but why he could possibly be getting more minutes in the future. He is yet to start a game in the league this season, but has come off the bench in all of them.
I think he is gradually being brought in to be Hernandez’s replacement, and why I think there’s going to be a drop in Pablo’s minutes going forward and a rise in Helder’s as we see Bielsa look ahead to how Costa can fit into the team from next season onwards.
There’s also one other avenue I want to explore.
I spoke on Tuesday about how Tyler Roberts could possibly be the answer to Leeds’ problems upfront, however I do also feel that he could also provide the solution to replace Hernandez out wide if he has to. Now let me stress, I’m not at all saying that he is instantly going to be as good as Hernandez. When you compare how many assists the two of them produce, Hernandez is far and away the more accomplished player. However, if you give Roberts more game time, then he is going to get better and he could possibly turn into that wide man that provides plenty of assists.
What about you? Do you think that this will be Pablo’s last season at Elland Road? Or do you think that there are one or two years left in him to dazzle the fans.