Leeds United’s season has been full of ‘what ifs’.

What if Eddie Nketiah hadn’t been recalled? What if Kemar Roofe was never sold? What if Orta had gone for Ryan Kent rather than Nketiah?

Those are all valid questions, but perhaps the biggest turning point of Leeds’ season was Adam Forshaw’s injury back in September.

The former Boro man has missed the vast majority of the season, and that has forced the manager into a bit of a tactical rethink.

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The biggest of those changes was to move Pablo Hernandez into the middle of the park and give Helder Costa a run down the right side, but we have to wonder would that have happened if Forshaw hadn’t gone down?

The former Wolves man didn’t start any of Leeds’ first eight games of the season, and coincidentally, Forshaw’s final outing this term was United’s ninth match against Charlton.

From then on, Costa hasn’t looked back, starting all but two games, but if Forshaw had been fit it may not have worked out that way.

Would Costa have broken into the team on the right ahead of two-time Player of the Year winner Pablo Hernandez? It’s hard to imagine that he would given his output this season. Despite starting 27 matches, he only has three goals to his name.

Bielsa very much likes to stick with his favoured XI, and at the start of the season, Costa quite clearly wasn’t a part of that.

Just look at Eddie Nketiah’s time at the club. He more than earned the right to start after scoring three goals in his first 220 minutes of league action, but Bielsa refused to give him a chance, before finally handing him two starts months after his form had died down.

Costa could very easily have found himself on the bench if Forshaw had stayed fit. It’s very clear that the midfielder is one of the manager’s favourites after his comments about him combining the best aspects of Mateusz Klich and Kalvin Phillips. Hernandez, meanwhile, has been United’s Player of the Year for the past two seasons running.

Luckily, Costa hasn’t had to face that eventuality, but it’s certainly interesting to consider what his season would have looked like if it weren’t for that big moment in September.

In other news, Ian Poveda and Jean-Kevin Augustin could benefit from one Bielsa call.