Leeds United remain in the race to secure automatic promotion from the Championship after their 1-0 win against Stoke City at Elland Road on Tuesday night.
The Whites battled hard to grind out all three points thanks to a first-half deflected strike from Dan James, who also missed two big chances to extend the lead.
Daniel Farke's side remain two points adrift of Ipswich Town in second but being in contention for the top two at this stage is an impressive achievement given the huge squad turnover last summer.
Of the eleven players who started against Stoke, four played for Leeds in the Premier League last season, and one – James – had been out on loan, whilst the rest are new signings.
The Whites allowed several first-team players to move on ahead of the 2023/24 campaign after former sporting director Victor Orta had left the club with a host of flops who had to be shifted after relegation.
One dud signed by the Spanish chief who rinsed the club was Colombian winger Luis Sinisterra, who has since moved on permanently.
How much Leeds paid to sign Sinisterra
According to BBC Sport West Yorkshire, Leeds agreed a deal worth £21m to sign the forward from Dutch giants Feyenoord in the summer of 2022.
The then-23-year-old attacker arrived off the back of an impressive campaign with the Eredivisie outfit as a scorer and creator of goals from a wide position.
His form with Feyenoord during the 2021/22 campaign suggested that he could have become a top player for Jesse Marsch had his attacking contributions translated over to the Premier League.
Sinisterra made 30 appearances in the Dutch top-flight that season. In that time, he racked up an eye-catching 12 goals and seven assists for his side.
The exciting gem ranked within the top 11% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Eredivisie for non-penalty goals (0.45) per 90, and the top 19% for assists (0.26) per 90, which shows that he was an outstanding offensive force for Feyenoord.
He created nine 'big chances' in total and made 2.0 key passes for his teammates in the division that term. This suggests that he was slightly unfortunate to only register seven assists, as his fellow attackers did not make the most of the opportunities he created for them.
His superb statistics in the Netherlands convinced Orta and Leeds to splash out a hefty fee of £21m to secure his services, to go along with £70k-per-week in wages – far more than Crysencio Summerville has earned during his time at Elland Road.
Luis Sinisterra's Premier League stats for Leeds
Including his £3.6m annual wages for the season he spent in Yorkshire, Leeds wasted £24.6m down the drain by the signing of the Feyenoord star in 2022.
His performances on the pitch in the Premier League were not good enough to justify the money spent on his services, as he struggled for form and fitness throughout the campaign.
Sinisterra, who was hailed as "frightening" by journalist Josh Bunting, suffered from muscle, foot, and ankle injuries last season, which kept him out for 16 competitive matches in total and disrupted his year.
He did, however, rack up 19 appearances and 13 starts in the top-flight for Leeds as they were ultimately relegated from the division under Marsch, Javi Gracia, and Sam Allardyce.
Appearances
19
Goals
Five
Big chances created
Zero
Assists
Zero
Key passes per game
0.5
Duel success rate
47%
In that time, as you can see in the table above, the 24-year-old forward scored a respectable five goals but offered very little creatively, with zero 'big chances' created and zero assists.
Sinisterra ranked within the bottom 1% of Premier League attacking midfielders and wingers for Expected Assisted Goals (0.04) per 90, which shows that he was one of the worst forwards in the league at creating high-quality opportunities.
Leeds were rinsed by the Colombian attacker as they splashed out a whopping £24.6m on him to help keep them in the division but he rarely contributed at the top end of the pitch.
The startling lack of value for money from this deal is highlighted by Summerville outperforming him, despite earning far less during the 2022/23 campaign.
How much Summerville earned last season
The Dutch whiz reportedly earned £27k-per-week last season for Leeds, which is a staggering £46k-per-week less than Sinisterra earned during the same period.
Summerville, who was signed – also from Feyenoord – for £1.3m in 2020, only started 12 matches in the Premier League but contributed with four goals and two assists.
This means that the 22-year-old gem was directly involved in one more goal than the Colombia international, despite starting one less game, whilst costing Leeds significantly less money.
The young whiz cost the Whites £1.4m in wages – on top of his £1.3m two years prior – and offered more – with 0.10 Expected Assisted Goals per 90 in the top-flight – than Sinisterra.
Summerville's wage has since dropped to £16k-per-week in the Championship this term, and he has produced a stunning 15 goals and eight assists in 33 matches so far.
The money recouped for Sinisterra
Leeds did, however, manage to recoup £20m of the money spent on Sinisterra by selling him to Bournemouth, who signed him on loan for the first half of the season, in February.
The right-footed forward has produced two goals and two assists in 17 Premier League games for the Cherries during the 2023/24 campaign, which means that he has already outperformed his Leeds career as a creative threat.
The Whites should be delighted that they managed to get £20m of the £24.6m they wasted on the attacker back but that does not take away from how poor the signing was, as they could have spent that money better in the summer of 2022.
Orta, who left the club last year, could have splashed that cash on other players who could have made a greater impact in the final third to keep Leeds in the Premier League, which would have earned them far more than £20m.
Therefore, Leeds were still rinsed by Sinisterra and the signing is certainly not one that should be looked back on as a success.