This Giuseppe Bellusci factor is often forgotten at Leeds United | OneFootball

FLW look back at some of the memorable moments of Giuseppe Bellusci during his time at Leeds United.

Giuseppe Bellusci is a name that will have the majority of the Elland Road faithful wincing, with the defender’s spell in English football at Leeds United extremely controversial despite some moments of promise early on.

Largely, his spell at Leeds was rather memorable, but for most of the wrong reasons. The Massimo Cellino era is one that many supporters will be desperate to forget, as it was full of controversy, off-field drama, and inconsistent results as well.

Recruitment was also a messy process and plenty of it lacked the joined-up thinking required to be a serious Championship operator. Cellino spent three years as the owner of the Whites after buying a majority share in the club from GFH, and it’s fair to say it was a hectic period, with Leeds ultimately falling short of winning promotion and arguably going backwards during his tenure.

The former Leeds owner was a controversial figure during his time at Elland Road, and he got things badly wrong frequently, including the signings he made during his first full season in charge of the club. Bellusci was one such signing, and one who remains incredibly unpopular with supporters to this day.

Giuseppe Bellusci joins Leeds

The previous season prior to Bellusci's arrival had seen Leeds survive in the Championship, thanks in large part to the goals of Ross McCormack, who was then sold to Fulham in the transfer window for a fee of around £11 million.

They would use the funds from that sale to put it towards no fewer than 15 signings that summer, and further in the January window, too. The majority were not domestic-based players, but from Serie A, B, and C — including the controversial figure of Bellusci.

Hardly any of those would leave with much of a positive reputation, with the most successful signing turning out to be recent club captain Liam Cooper in the long-term. He was joined by the likes of Tommaso Bianchi, Casper Sloth, Zan Benedicic, Adryan, and Marco Silvestri during the window, and more of them were infamous than famous during their stints at Elland Road.

The defender joined the club in August 2014 after spending five years with Catania in Italy. For the most part, Bellusci failed to hit it off with the Leeds supporters throughout his spell, and a red card on his debut acted almost as a warning of what was to come.

He did, however, notch two goals in his first season, but never really became a reliable asset in the team. He received two red cards and three yellow card suspensions in his brief two-year spell, further highlighting his unreliable and aggressive nature which supporters, unsurprisingly, did not take to.

Bellusci initially arrived at Elland Road on loan, on the 12th August 2014, but just nine days later, on the 21st, the deal was made permanent with the Italian signing a four-year contract. It proved to be a disastrous signing in many ways.

Aside from the red cards, the lowest point for Bellusci and the club's supporters came during the final weeks of the 2014/15 season when then Leeds boss Redfearn was told six members of his first-team squad were injured or unavailable for a game at Charlton Athletic, during a period which summed up Cellino's tenure in West Yorkshire.

The infamous "sicknote six" was formed which included the likes of Mirco Antenucci, Souleymane Doukara, Edgar Cani, Marco Silvestri, Dario Del Fabro, and Bellusci. That meant his reputation at the club was near enough impossible to rescue.

There were conflicting reports at the time about whether the players were actually hurt or staging a protest against the club and Redfearn, but the chaos that ensued surrounding the episode was typical of the tenure of Cellino as the Leeds chairman.

Giuseppe Bellusci's best Leeds moments

Had he been able to maintain the moments of magic on a more consistent basis, perhaps he would have endeared himself to supporters, but missing a game feigning injury was always going to leave a sour taste for plenty of supporters who had been excited about his arrival at the club.

He seemed an exciting centre-back, who liked to get forward, similar in the style to David Luiz. However, his robustness and chaotic nature meant he was a player who had more troughs than peaks in a white shirt. The comparisons to Luiz go further than that due to his ability to strike a free-kick and provide an attacking threat from defence.

Even if he had a fairly forgettable time in West Yorkshire, he scored a memorable free-kick against AFC Bournemouth that will live long in his memory and that of Leeds fans. It was about as good as it gets from a dead ball situation, but Leeds would seldom see those types of displays from the Italian.

He was particularly outstanding in one of his early displays for the club, with Leeds defeating West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town 3-0 at Elland Road, where the centre-back shone in the game and totally dominated the opposition. That, and the Bournemouth goal, were few and far between instances of brilliance.

Instead, the rest of his Elland Road career brought more controversial moments and his parting gift was a spat with supporters at a pre-season friendly at Guiseley in the summer of 2017. The 35-year-old played 61 times for the club before returning to Italy. He initially left Leeds on loan for Empoli, before departing on a free transfer for Palermo. He was most recently for Serie B side Ascoli before his summer release.