Every professional club in football has their near misses when it comes to transfers, and for Leeds, that may just be Michael Cuisance.
The midfielder was heavily linked throughout the summer as Marcelo Bielsa’s side spent big in an attempt to build for their return to the Premier League.
At one stage, it appeared a deal was done, only for it to collapse at the last minute, and Leeds turn their attention elsewhere.
That saw Cuisance head back to France on loan with Marseille, a deal that has not worked out in anyone’s favour, really.
L’Equipe cover the midfielder’s situation today and say he has ‘not convinced’ after arriving at the club with ‘enormous’ expectations.
It’s explained that may not have been the start of the issue, with fans and the club alike forgetting that he had barely featured in Munich during his time there.
The setup appeared to be a successful one, though. There was a manager who wanted him, and a club with ‘prestigious origins’ and ‘potential’, so the expectation was high.
Instead, the midfielder has ‘disappointed’ and has not been ‘spared the criticism’ in all corners, even from local network influencers who he had tried to cosy up to when he first arrived.
They say his record at the club is ‘difficult to defend’, although it has not been helped by him not being able to hit his peak physically and being played out of position as a number ten.
Indeed, the latter may have created a ‘not very healthy’ rivalry with Dimitri Payet, which is not ideal in a ‘complicated changing room undermined by internal struggles.’
Marseille will wait until Jorge Sampaoli arrives at the club to decide whether they want to activate their €18m purchase clause, but at the minute, that looks ‘a bit expensive’ given the displays he has put in.
Indeed, the entire loan spell appears to have been a failure and Leeds, who were pushing for a permanent deal in the summer, might have just avoided a major transfer mistake by not getting him.
