Leeds United responded to the possible setback of a 2-2 draw against Watford with a confidence-boosting 3-1 victory over Hull City on Easter Monday, as a number of reliable first-teamers came in clutch again for the Whites.
Crysencio Summerville and Daniel James would share out the goals late on away from Sam Byram's early effort opening the scoring, the tantalising duo causing the Tigers all sorts of bother in the late exchanges of the clash.
Earning £15k and £50k-per-week respectively for the promotion chasers, the club's joint-highest earner in Patrick Bamford at £70k per week didn't quite justify his excessive salary in contrast as he fired over the bar from close range in the first half.
Bamford has proven his worth for Leeds previously in his career at Elland Road, however, with this former Whites dud burned a far larger hole in the Championship club's back pocket when he was still on the books up until 2022.
Kiko Casilla's time at Leeds
Leeds would flex their connections by going all out to sign former Real Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla in January of 2019, with Marcelo Bielsa significantly bolstering the keeper spots at Elland Road with the deal viewed as a coup.
Casilla would swap Spain for West Yorkshire with a lot of hype attached to his name, not helped by the iconic former Whites boss stating that the shot-stopper was a "complete player" and that his career "speaks for itself" in the direct aftermath of him relocating.
The ex-Madrid man would instantly come into the Whites first-team ranks, going on to make 18 appearances during his debut season and then 36 the campaign after as Leeds gunned for promotion up to the Premier League.
The titling-winning exploits of his second season donning Leeds colours was overshadowed by an FA charge for racist language that came the keeper's way, with the subsequent eight-game ban that followed signalling the beginning of the end for Casilla in West Yorkshire and the start of Illan Meslier's dominance as the now first choice in-between the sticks.
1. GK – Kiko Casilla
2. RB – Luke Ayling
3. CB – Kalvin Phillips
4. CB – Liam Cooper
5. LB – Ezgjan Alioski
6. CM – Adam Forshaw
7. CM – Mateusz Klich
8. RM – Jack Clarke
9. CAM – Pablo Hernandez
10. LM – Jack Harrison
11. ST – Kemar Roofe
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Casilla would end up making just six more appearances after this ban had tainted his Whites stay, with one of those rare chances in the first-team culminating in the Spanish keeper conceding three goals to League Two opposition Crawley Town in the FA Cup.
He would eventually be moved on in 2022 back to his native country with Getafe, having been loaned out initially to fellow La Liga outfit Elche CF to get him off the Whites roster.
There may have been a sense of relief when Casilla was finally offloaded, although the damage had already been done with his excessive £40k per week wage which, at one point, made him a higher earner than ex-Leeds star Kalvin Phillips.
That salary in the Leeds camp at the moment would even see him earn double that of Wilfried Gnonto, on top of bettering Summerville's salary by a hefty £25k.
Kiko Casilla's wage at Leeds
During his first season in West Yorkshire, the 6 foot 3 flop would rake in the highest wage in the squad overall – beating the likes of Bamford, Pablo Hernandez and other key first-teamers to the top spot.
More worryingly, however, even when his game-time became more limited with just three top flight games managed in the 2020-21 season, the former Real man would still earn a substantial salary compared to others fighting it out week in and week out in the Whites first-team.
Bamford at the peak of his powers bagging 17 goals in the top-flight would still earn £5k less per week than the reserve figure, on top of Casilla pocketing £10k more per week than Phillips who excelled in the Leeds side that would finish in a mightily impressive ninth spot in the Premier League.
1. Rodrigo
£100k per week
2. Raphinha
£63.5k per week
3. Kiko Casilla
£40k per week
4. Diego Llorente
£40k per week
5. Robin Koch
£40k per week
Leeds will be thankful that they did not decide to go overboard and dish out a wage similar to that of Rodrigo's excessive £100k per week salary to Casilla, who would go down as another expensive recruit from Spain that never lived up to their billing.
The time could come soon for Farke to address whether or not there are some high earners in the Whites ranks now who are not deserving of their excessive pay packet, with the likes of Stuart Dallas and Liam Cooper out of contract this summer.
Kiko Casilla's time after Leeds
Once lining up in La Liga in the same XI that boasted the world's best such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, and once being Bielsa's first-choice shot-stopper at Elland Road, Casilla now finds himself without a club at 37 years of age.
The towering keeper would go on to make two appearances for Getafe before he was let go at the end of last season, with the ageing ex-Leeds man in danger of seeing his professional career now fizzle out.
There won't be any lingering regret from Leeds' end though about how things ended with their ex-goalkeeper however, as Meslier and the current crop of talent in West Yorkshire aim to win promotion and stay put in the Premier League where everything ultimately unravelled for Casilla.
Overall, Leeds were bled dry by the Bielsa signing, who earned double what Gnonto currently earns, and it will not be looked back on as a super successful addition by the Whites.
