Mateusz Klich’s frustrations with his lack of first team action could lead to his departure in January, while Leeds are reported to be chasing Japan’s Yosuke Ideguchi.
Klich was the first new signing of the Thomas Christiansen era, when we paid FC Twente around £1.5million for the Polish midfielder, who signed a three year contract. But he has yet to establish himself in the Leeds United first team since then, and his postings on social media could well have irritated the powers that be at the club.
The 27-year-old played in all the games in our League Cup, with his most impressive performance coming at Burnley. But his only start in the Championship came at Cardiff, when he was substituted after 67 minutes. Earlier in the game his error had led to one of Cardiff’s goals in our 3-1 defeat, prompting his first outburst on Twitter after he was dropped for the next match.
Klich complained that some players are forgiven for their mistakes and continued to be selected, but others aren’t. Since then he has suffered from the surfeit of central midfielders we currently have at the club. Saiz is always going to be the first name on the teamsheet, and Christiansen prefers to field at least two of Vieira, O’Kane and Phillips alongside the Spanish wizard.
Despite the competition for places, Klich might have expected to make the bench for Saturday’s visit to Barnsley, with Vieira suspended, but he wasn’t even included in the matchday squad. Shaughnessy was selected instead, and took field once O’Kane was injured. It can be difficult to keep all squad members happy throughout the season, but Christiansen might have tired of his attitude off the field.
Klich was back on Twitter after he’d hear of his omission, posting a gif of the Ryan Reynolds facepalm. And this was ‘liked’ by Pawel Cibicki, another player who has failed to make much impression on Christiansen’s first team plans since arriving in the summer. Now reports in his native Poland claim Klich has asked his agent to look for a move when the transfer window reopens in the new year, at least on loan.
But Leeds might want to keep Klich at the club for now, to cover for possible injuries and suspensions as the season progresses, and it’s possible they would only allow him to leave if the club can line up a replacement. The Yorkshire Post have reported that we’re hoping to sign 21 year-old Japanese midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi.
Last week Victor Orta said Leeds are "close to signing a big surprise from Asia” after expanding the club’s in the Far East. Toshiya Fujita, a former Japanese international, was named as the club’s head of recruitment for the Asian market in July and Andrea Radrizzani spent some time in Japan soon afterwards.
Ideguchi currently plays for J-League side Gamba Osaka and was named as the J-League’s young player of the year last season after Osaka finished sixth in the table, and he scored for Japan in a 2-0 win over Australia during a World Cup qualifier on August 31.
Leeds might struggle to secure a work permit for Ideguchi, who currently falls short of the Football Association’s points-based criteria for non-EU footballers, but the club are said to be hopeful of finding a way to secure the transfer.