Needing a midfielder during the summer/autumn transfer window, Leeds United, with Marcelo Bielsa at the helm, tried to bring in Michaël Cuisance.
The Bayern Munich player was in need of some regular minutes, blocked by the abundance of talent already at Hansi Flick’s disposal, and a €20m move to Elland Road was organised.
However, at the last minute, Leeds seemingly pulled the plug for reasons that remain unknown to this day, allowing the Frenchman to head to Marseille on loan, where he was welcomed as a smart piece of business.
After all, the Ligue 1 side had managed to get a player wanted by both their beloved former manager and a Premier League club.
What followed, however, will have caused a sigh of relief to those in charge of transfers at Leeds United, as their decision to move on from the 21-year-old appears to have been a great one.
Stats wise, Cuisance has 16 league appearances to his name this season, starting 10 of those, during which he’s managed just the one assist.
He was in Nasser Larguet’s first XI against Bordeaux on Sunday, but came off in the 63rd minute to be replaced by Olivier Ntcham, with L’Equipe giving him a 2/10 for his performance.
The midfield of Cuisance, Valentin Rongier and Pape Gueye was ‘bullied’ by their opponents, with the Bayern Munich loanee ‘collapsing’ and ‘showing limits that are starting to make you wonder’.
All he managed to achieve was a ‘festival of sideways or backwards passes that didn’t bring a lot’, and when he tried to send the ball forward, ‘there was a lot of waste’.
This is seen as ‘another failed game’ for Cuisance, who was labelled one of the game’s ‘flops’ by the national newspaper, which is echoed by local outlet La Provence.
They start off by saying ‘the matches come and go and the performances of the player loaned by Bayern continue to be lacklustre’, adding that when he’s on the pitch ‘the impression is always the same: that Marseille are playing a man short’.
Pointing out the sideways and backwards pass problem as well, La Provence also add that ‘his attitude when the ball is lost is far from exemplary’.
All in all, this is a bullet dodged by Leeds United.
