Jesse Marsch offloaded Leeds United cult hero to sign hugely unpopular international | OneFootball

FLW look back in time to January 2023 when Leeds United signed Weston McKennie and allowed Mateusz Klich to depart.

Mateusz Klich's time at Leeds United was marked by his resilience and key contributions during the club’s successful Championship promotion under Marcelo Bielsa, before Jesse Marsch replaced the midfielder with Weston McKennie.

Initially out of favour, Klich's energy, technical ability, and intelligence quickly made him an essential figure in Leeds’ high-intensity pressing style. He played a crucial role in midfield, offering both creativity and goals, but also defensive work, and becoming a fan favorite for his work rate and composure on the ball.

In the Premier League, Klich continued to contribute, though Leeds’ struggles in the 2021/22 season saw his minutes dwindle, particularly with injuries and changes in the squad dynamics. That was apparent under Bielsa, but became even more of an issue when Marsch replaced the Argentine at the back-end of the season.

Klich’s departure in January 2023 came amid a lack of regular game time under Marsch. Despite being a key player for several seasons, Marsch’s system and midfield preferences saw Klich relegated to a squad role. Frustrated with reduced minutes and seeking more involvement, Klich left to join D.C. United for an opportunity in MLS.

He had been relentless in terms of his engine and availability for an extended period in a Leeds shirt, but left a void in terms of leadership and experience in Leeds’ midfield as well, with some of the promotion heroes beginning to depart the club that season.

In response to Klich's exit two January windows ago, Leeds signed Weston McKennie on loan from Juventus to bolster the midfield. While McKennie arrived with a strong reputation as a versatile box-to-box player or high-intensity wing-back, his deployment in a more defensive, double-pivot role alongside Marc Roca proved to be problematic.

McKennie struggled to adapt to the defensive demands of this setup, as his natural strengths lie in getting forward, breaking lines with powerful box-crashing runs, and contributing offensively. His passing lacked the incisiveness and precision needed to control play from deep; while defensively, he failed to provide the necessary cover, leaving gaps in midfield.

The pairing with Roca, who is also not naturally defensive-minded, left Leeds vulnerable in transitions, contributing to their poor form in the latter half of the season after a hamstring injury to Tyler Adams. He was dovetailing well with Roca at the base of midfield for Marsch prior to that. McKennie represented what had been a head-scratching squad-building process for some time at Leeds in that period.

Leeds’ decision to sell Klich was perhaps a mistake, but signing McKennie was a bigger one. McKennie was never going to be able to replace the out-of-possession work of Adams, who is a natural destroyer with endless energy and an ability to break up opposition play. McKennie, lacking that defensive acumen and stamina, could not fill the void left by Adams’ injury, which compounded Leeds’ struggles.

Klich may not have fit well into Marsch's system and style of play, but he was able to connect the midfield to the forward line in cameo substitute appearances on numerous occasions. However, McKennie was never a stylistic fit into the style of play, and it's fair to say that Leeds may have been better off retaining the former over signing the latter.

The option-to-buy was set at around £30 million for McKennie. Although he has since played much better and more effectively back in Serie A with Juventus, McKennie looked unfit, out of his depth, and lazy in a Leeds shirt, and was never likely to justify the price tag had Leeds survived the drop and been obligated to pay it.

Despite being a USMNT international with numerous caps and coming with a strong reputation from an Italian giant, McKennie was and is one of the worst signings in recent memory. He did his reputation, and that of both Marsch and Victor Orta, absolutely no favours during his stint in West Yorkshire.