Leeds United will be aiming to pick up yet another Championship win this calendar year when they travel to Coventry City, knowing that first-team stars such Crysencio Summerville will have to play to the peak of their powers to get the better of the Sky Blues.

The hosts will still have aspirations about breaking into the playoff picture with six games of the whirlwind regular campaign left to tick off, with Mark Robins hoping his side can spoil Leeds' high spirits at the CBS Arena.

Staggeringly only on £15k-per-week, according to Capology, the dynamic Dutchman will surely hope his wages get a boost at the end of the season even if his team don't end up winning promotion.

Leeds will be wary about handing out excessive pay packets, however, regardless of Summerville's 18 goals this season, remembering how costly former flop Helder Costa became.

Helder Costa's wage at Leeds

Costa wasn't instantly seen as a misfire when he first entered Elland Road, having amassed four goals and six assists during his debut season under Marcelo Bielsa in the Championship.

It was the step-up to the Premier League that saw the Angolan talent's significance to the Whites first-team start to wane, going on to make 23 appearances over the next two seasons – with six goals and assists for his troubles – before being offloaded for good at the start of this campaign.

Having been loaned out twice to Valencia and Al-Itthiad in recent years to get freshness into his legs, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man was put out of his misery as a Leeds player finally by Farke last October when he was released from his contract.

There would have been some relief that the high earner was off the wage bill too, with Costa raking in £32.5k-per-week for the Whites as recently as the 2020/21 season.

That was remarkably £2.5k-per-week more than Kalvin Phillips at the time, and looking at the present state of affairs in the Leeds camp, Costa was earning double that of Summerville.

Helder Costa's wage compared to the current Leeds squad

Summerville has staggeringly bettered Costa's entire numbers at Elland Road this season alone already, onto 27 goals and assists from 40 games compared to Costa's weak 19 goals and assists from 71 appearances.

Regardless, Costa ended up earning more than double what the standout Leeds ten earns now even when he ended up featuring just 22 times for Bielsa's side during the 2020/21 campaign.

Moreover, glancing over the extensive Whites wage bill now, Costa would find himself earning more than other regular first-team stars such as Illan Meslier, Wilfried Gnonto and Glen Kamara – and not just Summerville.

Described as being "frustrating" by ex-Leeds player Noel Whelan when the 30-year-old winger was loaned out to Spain, the Angolan attacker now finds himself without a club and is nearing towards the end of his bumpy career.

1. Patrick Bamford

£70k per week

2. Georginio Rutter

£70k per week

3. Junior Firpo

£60k per week

4. Daniel James

£50k per week

5. Pascal Struijk

£50k per week

His excessive wage wouldn't see him quite break into the top five earners at Elland Road at the moment, but there's no doubt some regret on Leeds' end about the fact they splashed £16m on Costa and ended up giving him a handsome salary for so long.

Costa might well even consider hanging up his boots soon if he can't regain his mojo when a new club comes calling, whilst Leeds continue to go from strength to strength with Summerville integral to their promotion chances.

Wage Burners

Football FanCast's Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.