Leeds United: January free agent masterstroke should be seen as a benchmark at Elland Road | OneFootball

Leeds United signed Pablo Hernandez on a free transfer and he went on to become a legend at Elland Road

The 2016/17 season was one of near-miss and heartbreak for Leeds United as they missed out on the play-offs despite a successful campaign under Garry Monk for the most part, but it may be fondly remembered for one brilliant piece of transfer business.

Monk signed former Swansea City teammate Pablo Hernandez after arriving at the club in 2016, initially bringing the Spanish international to Leeds on loan from Qatari side Al-Arabi, before making it permanent in January 2017 on a free transfer.

Signing a player of Hernandez's quality for free looked a real coup for Leeds and so it proved, as he would go on to become a modern-day club legend and help the Whites win promotion to the Premier League after 16 years of waiting.

Despite coming towards the end of his career during his time at Elland Road, Hernandez often looked a cut above the rest at Championship level, particularly during the first couple of years, and he came up with plenty of big moments that helped him to become a legend at Leeds.

Pablo Hernandez's signing should be the benchmark for Leeds United

Leeds were seemingly helped by Monk's connections with Hernandez having played with him and managed him at Swansea but for a middling Championship side to sign a Spanish international was a real statement of intent, and he proved even better than most people expected.

The 2016/17 season saw him score six times and register eight assists in 35 Championship appearances, a very decent return, and he played a key role in helping the Whites to a seventh-place finish, a real improvement on previous seasons.

His deal to sign permanently for Leeds in January 2017 was an initial six-month contract with the option to extend it until the end of the 2017/18 season, and that's what the Whites did, handing him a fresh deal after an impressive first campaign in Yorkshire.

The following season wasn't as successful for Leeds, but it proved a fruitful one for Hernandez, and he scored nine times and registered ten assists in all competitions, winning the Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year for the club, and was subsequently rewarded with a new, two-year deal.

Marcelo Bielsa joined Leeds in the summer of 2018, helping to transform the club's fortunes beyond some supporters' wildest dreams, and Hernandez continued to improve.

He registered 12 goals and 12 assists during the 2018/19 campaign, his best tally as a Leeds United player, and while his side fell heartbreakingly short in the play-offs that season, suffering defeat to Derby County, better times were around the corner.

Leeds won the Championship title in 2020, with Hernandez enjoying yet another successful campaign as he scored nine goals and registered nine assists, but it was his late goal away to Swansea in July 2020 that he'll be remembered fondly for, a strike which handed his side all three points, and all but sealed promotion for his club.

This meant that he was part of the Leeds side that played in the Premier League during the 2020/21 season, six-and-half years since he'd last played in the English top-flight, and while he didn't play all too regularly, he still acquitted himself well.

He played 16 Premier League games, helping his side to a ninth-place finish and was given an emotional send-off at Elland Road in Leeds' final home game of the season.

After 36 goals and 41 assists in 175 appearances, Hernandez will always be fondly remembered at Elland Road, and Leeds would love to replicate that sort of deal when the January transfer window opens in less than two months' time.

It's the sort of deal that emphasises the quality that can be signed cheaply if you know where to look and should be a benchmark for the Whites in future windows.

Pablo Hernandez enjoyed the best years of his career at Leeds United

After leaving England for Qatar in 2014, some Leeds fans may have questioned whether Hernandez still had it when he joined Leeds in 2016, but his time at Elland Road proved the most fruitful years of his career.

Usually, when a player moves to a country like Qatar, it's to pick up a big paycheck to finish their career, and can often be labelled as a retirement home for players, so for Hernandez to come back to English football and lead a side to the Premier League was hugely impressive.

He played more games for Leeds than any other club, surpassing his Valencia total by 17 games, and his goal and assist return was far better at Elland Road than anywhere else.

In hindsight, it's quite remarkable how a short-term loan from a team in Qatar would go on to deliver a modern-day Leeds United legend, and there's no doubt that Daniel Farke would love a deal that successful when the January transfer window opens.

Hernandez was in his thirties and playing in Qatar when he was signed, and he should serve as a reminder to Leeds United supporters that new players shouldn't be written off before a ball is kicked.