Pablo Hernandez left Leeds United in 2021 after five years and 175 appearances in all competitions for the club.
If there’s anyone in the last decade you could point towards being an Elland Road legend, it’s probably El Mago himself.
He scored countless big goals for the club and ended his spell in West Yorkshire by helping the team win promotion to the Premier League and then achieve a top-half finish in the top flight.
It would be fair to say that it’s all gone downhill since the Spanish wizard left.
However, it seems that Leeds are looking to rediscover the spark that was lost when Hernandez left by trying to sign Colombia attacker Jhon Arias from Fluminense.
TeamTalk reported on Tuesday (31 October) that Leeds are among a number of clubs in the hunt to sign the 26-year-old South American.
It is understood that Burnley, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham, Wolves and Rangers have also done their checks on Arias, who has been in “outstanding” form for Fluminense in Brazil this season.
In the 2023, season, Arias has scored nine goals and supplied 13 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions.
He’s helped Fluminense reach the Copa Libertadores final, which will be played against Boca Juniors next weekend, and also win the Carioca Championship title.
Arias is, like Hernandez was for Leeds, a versatile attacking midfielder who can play on either wing or as a number 10.
He’s incredibly technically gifted with video clips on YouTube showing how the 10-times Colombia international can cut through defences like a hot knife through butter due to how close he can keep the ball to his feet.
As reported by Brazilian website Globo on 30 October, Arias spent a good chunk of his career playing as a playmaker in the midfield before being utilised more out wide by Fluminense, who signed him from Colombian side Santa Fe in 2021.
Gianfranco Petruziello brokered the deal that took Arias to Brazil and speaking about that move, he said: “Everyone had a very important job in this operation.
“It involved several clubs, it wasn’t just Fluminense and Patriotas, which had the rights, there was Santa Fe, which was the club he was loaned to and had a contract for another six months.
“Fluminense had a very delicate time.
“President Mário made a huge effort for the player to arrive very quickly due to the Libertadores registration. Fluminense’s legal department did a phenomenal job given the time.”
Arias is clearly highly rated in South America but usually, when a player moves to the Premier League – or another top European league – from that part of the world, they join quite young.
But Arias is already a seasoned professional with over 200 senior appearances to his name, as well as international caps for Colombia in the double figures.
Arias seems to be a late bloomer, which isn’t an issue before because we saw the best of Hernandez in his early to mid 30s at Elland Road.
Aris could offer us the best of his career in his late 20s and beyond if the Whites can steal a march on signing him this summer.
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