Leeds may finally be seeing the fruits of their labor following the arrival of Raphinha this summer, but there is one player who they will rue not signing...

What was the word?

One of the sagas of the last winter transfer window for the Whites was surrounding former Hull City talisman Jarrod Bowen, who according to The Sun was of interest to Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta.

They claimed that the Yorkshire giants were only willing to pay £3m loan upfront and then a remaining £15m upon promotion.

The Athletic's Phil Hay also suggested that the 23-year-old was a player they "looked at" but ultimately, they were "never going to pay what Hull wanted."

And now that's looking like a rather silly mistake.

One that got away?

This week's edition of Monday Night Football on Sky Sports served up Bowen's new club, West Ham United, as they defeated Aston Villa 2-1 and the former Leeds target played an integral role once again.

He scored and assisted both of the Iron's goals with SofaScore grading him as their best player with an 8.1 rating. He also recorded two key passes and made 83% of his passes.

It means since his £20m switch in January, Bowen has directly contributed to ten goals in just 23 appearances for the east London outfit. That is a phenomenal return thus far.

In the Premier League this season, the winger who was once dubbed "unplayable" by ex-manager Grant McCann has averaged 2.2 shots per game, which is only bettered by Patrick Bamford in Marcelo Bielsa's squad.

You can only imagine how huge of an influence the Whites boss could've had on his career, even with the addition of Ralphinha. He's looking way better than Helder Costa (one shot per game) and perhaps Jack Harrison too as he's only scored once in the top-flight this term.

United will get a taste of what could've been later this month as they soon welcome the Hammers to Elland Road.

Orta best hope his decision to not pay up for the impressive dynamo doesn't come back to haunt Bielsa and Leeds.

AND in other news, Forget De Paul: Bielsa has saved LUFC millions thanks to "intelligent" £45k-p/w beast...