Former Leeds United attacker Noel Whelan has admitted he needs to see much more from Helder Costa, who he does not feel is living up to his price tag.
Leeds signed Costa on a season-long loan deal from Premier League side Wolves in the summer, but as part of the agreement agreed to buy him next summer for a fee of around £15m.
Costa's inconsistent performances in a white shirt have led some fans to question whether Leeds could back out of the agreement, but it has been claimed to be watertight.
An injury to Pablo Hernandez gave Costa a starting chance in recent weeks and he has retained his spot in the side despite the Spaniard's return to fitness.
Costa started in Saturday's 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers and Whelan feels he flattered to deceive and continued his trend of only showing glimpses of his true quality.
"I've always said he's had two decent games out of six", Whelan explained on BBC Radio Leeds after the match.
"This is now seven [games so] two and a half [decent games] I'm going to give him.
"There's more in him. Right now we keep talking about this £15m tag that's on him. I'm probably seeing about £4m.
"That's what I'm seeing right now. It's in glimpses. He is doing very much what [Jack] Harrison did last year.
"You're seeing him for maybe 35 minutes out of 90, if that, at the minute.
"What we do see is very good, but there needs to be more consistency and more involvement throughout the 90.
"A man of his quality and what we know he can do – we're not seeing it just yet. That is my issue."
Whelan, a former Whites attacker, admits that for £15m he is looking for a game-changer, rather than someone who can at times go missing.
"If I'm going to be paying out £15m then I want someone who's going to be able to dictate a game, take a game by the scruff of the neck when it's going [wrong], create, score goals – he's not scored in any starts that he's had. That's concerning for me.
"Sometimes he goes missing in games."
Costa, who will turn 26 in January, has now clocked 800 minutes of action for Leeds in the Championship, but has only provided a single assist.
