It looked like a coup for Cellino and Leeds United but the "New Zico" failed to deliver | OneFootball

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Adryan's transfer in 2014 from Flamengo was not a successful one for Leeds United under the ownership of Massimo Cellino.

In his native Brazil, Adryan has been dubbed herdeiro de Zico, meaning 'heir of Zico' and il nuovo Zico (the new Zico) previously, but his career has not lived up to those heights whatsoever.

The previous season had seen Leeds survive in the Championship, thanks to the goals of Ross McCormack, who was then sold to Fulham in the transfer window for a fee of around £11 million.

That summer also saw the departure of manager Brian McDermott in favour of David Hockaday, who only had prior managerial experience with Conference side Forest Green Rovers, but little else to write about.

They would use the funds from the McCormack sale to put it towards no fewer than 15 signings that summer, and further in the January window, too. The majority were not domestic-based players, but from Serie A, B, and C. Hardly any would leave with much of a reputation, with the most successful signing turning out to be current club captain Liam Cooper in the long-term.

The likes of Tommaso Bianchi, Casper Sloth, Souleymane Doukara, Zan Benedicic, Dario Del Fabro, and Adryan were signed during the window, whilst a famous tweet from Jason Pearce went viral on deadline day when Matt Smith and Dom Poleon were sold in the last hours of the window with no one else arriving after the time of the tweet.

It was a disaster of a window and a season where Leeds did very little in the Championship. After Hockaday's sacking, academy manager Neil Redfearn took over as caretaker manager and earned 10 points from the next four games, propelling Leeds into mid-table, but was overlooked for the permanent manager's job in favour of another unexpected candidate.

That came in the form of Slovenian manager Darko Milanic, but he failed failed to win any of his six games in charge, and was himself sacked 32 days later, making him the club's shortest-serving permanent manager ever.

With Leeds in the thick of relegation trouble, they turned once again to Redfearn, and while they remained dangerously close to the foot of the table until well into the New Year, a strong run of form between late January and the end of March eventually took them out of danger. They would eventually finish in 15th-place in the Championship.

How did Adryan perform for Leeds?

On 30 August 2014, after speaking highly of Adryan, former Cagliari owner Cellino negotiated a deal with his former club to terminate Adryan's loan deal, taking him to the Elland Road club on a season-long loan with the option of a permanent move.

After coming out of Brazil with a strong reputation at Flamengo, it was hoped he would do enough to earn himself a permanent switch to Leeds with an agreed transfer price of around £3 million.He had two goals and five assists in 44 games for Flamengo prior to joining the West Yorkshire outfit, so output was not something he was renowned for.

However, excitement was certainly there for his arrival and after the first few games, he had proved that the anticipation was justified. His dribbling and ball carrying were exemplified well, as was his agility and Brazilian flair in receiving the ball on the turn in tight spaces.

He started well when making his first start in a 1–1 draw against Norwich City, providing an assist for teammate Souleymane Doukara's equaliser. He followed this up against Blackpool with four key passes, two key dribbles, and an assist.

Adryan quickly faded after that, and his most memorable act was an infamous one. His spectacular dive after he was tackled by Johnny Russell in the match between Leeds and Derby County, which Leeds won 2–0 at Elland Road.

After that moment, he contributed very little for Leeds, and did not earn himself a permanent deal after 13 appearances and just those two assists early on. By the end of the season, he was considered as much of a flop as his dive.