"Lasting impact" - Marcelo Bielsa favourite named in Leeds United best transfer claim | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit had his say on the club's greatest transfer deal

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds United's inspired signing of Pablo Hernandez back in 2017 has gone down in the history books at Elland Road, with the Spanish playmaker still missed to this very day.

The Whites were able to return the ex-Swansea City star to English football when Garry Monk struck a loan agreement with Al-Arabi at the start of the 2016/17 campaign. Hernandez duly impressed and signed permanently that January - and the rest is history.

Affectionately dubbed 'El Mago' (The Magician) by supporters, Hernandez lit up Elland Road for a number of years in the Championship. Hernandez, like many of his teammates, only grew in performance and importance following the sensational 2018 appointment of Marcelo Bielsa, a masterstroke in of itself which ultimately ended Leeds' long-term exile from the top-flight.

The attacking midfielder registered 12 goals and 12 assists apiece in his first season under the iconic Argentine. His haul of nine goals and nine assists helped to drive Leeds to the Championship title in 2019/20, and he still offered fleeting moments of quality - in spite of his age and reduced game time - in the Whites' first season back in the big time.

Hernandez remains very much a modern-day legend in West Yorkshire, and with good reason. The signing, of course, went on to represent incredibly-shrewd business from Leeds, who shelled out very little and reaped the ultimate reward.

Pablo Hernandez named as Leeds United's biggest transfer masterstroke

FLW asked our Whites fan pundit, Ger Lynch, to name who he believes Leeds' biggest transfer masterstroke is. Ger opted with Hernandez and pointed out the current clamour for a player in the mold of the Spaniard epitomises just how impactful he really was.

"I'd say it was Pablo Hernandez," Ger told FLW.

"It didn't seem a big transfer at the time, Hernandez had gone off to play in Saudi Arabia early in his career and had a move back to Spain. Then Garry Monk's relationship with him was enough to get him to come to Leeds.

"The impact Hernandez had at Leeds versus the value of what they paid for him - they paid very little for him, if anything at all - and managed to get one of the most impactful players Leeds have had in the last 20 years, maybe even more, from the deal.

"He was a massive part of Leeds getting promoted, he scored the winning goal against Swansea that got Leeds into the Premier League. There were massive moments from him under Bielsa, and I think Hernandez is the biggest masterstroke because he cost very little and had a massive impact on the club to the point where fans are still saying now 'we need a Pablo'.

"That tells you the lasting impact he made."

Leeds United lack a Pablo Hernandez figure in midfield

A real sticking point among supporters in what has been a largely impressive campaign has been the lack of a natural, out-and-out attacking midfielder with a refined creative edge. That was offered in rich abundance by Georginio Rutter last season, but Brendan Aaronson has struggled to fill the Frenchman's void after his summer switch to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Aaronson has scored eight goals - more than Rutter managed in Leeds' run to the play-off final last time out - although he comes nowhere close when it comes to the ability to unlock opposition defences, break lines and drive forward freely in possession.

Rutter provided Leeds a sense of ingenuity and flair in the centre that they had not enjoyed since Hernandez.

Despite Aaronson's mixed displays, Leeds are still on course to lift the Championship title in May, but Daniel Farke's side will know better than anybody else that there are no guarantees just yet and, regardless of what division awaits next season, recruiting a creative number-10 like Hernandez or Rutter must be top priority in the summer.