While Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch sat in his post-match press conference spelling out that it was still not 100 per cent that Mateusz Klich would be leaving the club, the player's tears pitchside at Elland Road told a different story. There may still be a contract to officially announce in the MLS, but a love triangle between player, club and fan base will be broken up in the coming days as a modern day legend departs.
Few supporters would have expected to see the scenes witnessed on Wednesday evening following the draw with West Ham, when the Poland international first arrived at the club from FC Twente in 2017. Even Marcelo Bielsa had initial doubts, putting the Pole in his 'maybes' group during his first pre-season in West Yorkshire, but some impressive friendly performances soon convinced the Argentine that he could become a key player.
Fast forward two years after Klich had barely missed a game for Bielsa and been the midfield lynchpin in the promotion-winning side, Bielsa was asked about his first impressions of Klich. Here's what he had to say; "Klich, for me, is a player who can play in all the best teams in the world. So, he is in Leeds by chance. It doesn’t have to do with the fact I decided he continued at Leeds.
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"In all cases, all the praise should go to him and to Victor Orta who was the person who brought him here."
High praise indeed, but the quote also came with a reminder that the Polish international's time at Elland Road could have been different had it not been for a couple of notable pre-season injuries which saw Bielsa change his plan of using Klich in the heart of the defence at the start of the 2018-19 season.
Bielsa explained; "In the first pre-season, I asked him if he would consider playing as a centre-back, but it so happened in the game before the season started, against Las Palmas, the candidates for the player to play in the number eight role started falling away.
"I am referring to [Adam] Forshaw and Ronaldo Vieira. Their absences allowed him to play and show his ability and he’s never been out of the team since."
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