Leeds United pulled a blinder with Cardiff City transfer - He became a 58-goal titan | OneFootball

Ross McCormack smashed it at Leeds United.

Ross McCormack's stuttering start to life at Leeds United would have worried the Elland Road faithful, but once he found his groove, he was unstoppable.

The former Scottish international is one of the Championship's great strikers of the 2010s and had stellar spells at Cardiff City, Fulham and the Whites.

Starting his career at Rangers, the early stages didn’t showcase his prolific potential, leading to spells at Doncaster Rovers and Motherwell before he eventually found his footing at Cardiff City in 2008.

The 2008-09 season was a real breakthrough for the striker, and he netted a superb 21 goals in 38 games as the Bluebirds finished just outside the play-offs in 7th place.

Unfortunately, McCormack struggled to find the net the following year, but this presented an opportunity for Leeds, who brought the striker in during the summer of 2010. Signed for a fee of £350,000, he may not have initially won over the Whites fans, but it quickly became clear that he was one of the most natural finishers around.

Ross McCormack's 2010-11 struggles

Making the move to a club with the high expectations of Leeds, it was always going to be a tough challenge for the Scotsman, and his first season proved to be a real struggle.

Much like his previous year at Cardiff, the attacker couldn't find the back of the net and faced an even tougher challenge in displacing Luciano Becchio.

The Italian striker had just enjoyed a 15-goal promotion campaign in League One and was adapting to the Championship with ease. Over the course of the 2010-11 season, Becchio netted 19 goals, while McCormack could only manage two from his 704 minutes on the pitch.

This turned out to be a false pretence and over the next three campaigns, he showed the true Ross McCormack.

Ross McCormack - Leeds' goal machine

Quickly forgetting the two previous terms, McCormack found his groove in 2011-12 and started the season on fire as he became the first Leeds player to score in six consecutive games for 50 years.

Scoring nine goals in the opening 11 fixtures, he was always going to find it difficult to maintain that form, but it was clear that McCormack was back and hungry for more. By the end of the season, he had added a further nine to his tally, taking his Championship total to 18 as the Whites finished in 14th place.

The following year, he scored another 10 across all competitions, but he also became a key provider, registering 14 assists - 13 of which came in the second tier.

The pinnacle of his time at Elland Road came in 2013-14 as the striker hit the peak form of his career. Starting every game of the league season, he netted 28 times and provided ten assists, as he played a hand in 64% of Leeds' 59 goals.

Within that remarkable year, he produced some unforgettable moments, including a stunning four-goal haul at the Valley in a 4-2 victory over Charlton Athletic, and a brilliant hat-trick at Elland Road in a 5-1 demolition of Huddersfield Town.

The only regret was that he was achieving all this for a mid-table Leeds side, meaning he didn't receive the recognition he truly deserved for his efforts in propelling the team forward.

Nevertheless, the following season he would get a deserved £11 million move to Fulham, where he would continue his goalscoring form in the second tier for a few more seasons.

Calling time on his Leeds career in 2014, McCormack had scored 58 goals and registered 31 assists in 157 matches, cementing his place as one of the club's most prolific and influential goal-scorers in recent history.