Marsch admits key player has an offer to leave Leeds United in January

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Jesse Marsch admits he is ‘cautious’ about letting Mateusz Klich leave Premier League outfit with DC United hoping to lure the long-serving Leeds United playmaker to the MLS, speaking to Leeds Live. 

After four years in which his name almost appeared to have been engraved into Marcelo Bielsa’s team-sheet, Klich finds himself in the rather unfamiliar situation of being forced to watch on from the substitute’s bench.

He’s not started a single Premier League game in 2022/23. As a result, a place in Poland’s squad for the Qatar World Cup slipped through the 32-year-old’s fingers. 

Klich, however, remains an important and experienced member of the Leeds roster; Marsch expressing reservations about whether or not a January departure would be the right move for the relegation-threatened club. 

Will Leeds United let Mateusz Klich leave for the MLS?

“There has been an enquiry for Mateusz. But I think, from all sides, we’re still cautious about picking that it might be time for him to leave. I think he’s still been really important here,” explains the former RB Leipzig coach.

“One of the interesting things is he’s played the fifth-most matches for me since I’ve been here. He’s one of my favourite personalities of anyone I’ve ever coached. And we have a really good relationship. We’ve been open with each other in all these moments along the way.”

Klich, despite falling behind Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and Marc Roca in Leeds’ pecking order, has still played 11 times off the bench in recent months.

MLS reporter Tom Bogert believes a move to Wayne Rooney’s DC United is ‘close’. But Leeds are under no obligation to sell, given that the former FC Twente ace still has 18 months left on his contract in West Yorkshire. 

“I’m not sure, again, that it’s the time for him to leave,” Marsch reiterates. “(But) I know that sometimes players would like to play a little bit more. I think we’ve had good dialogue about his role within the team, and continued role within the team. I think that (his departure is) not necessarily set in stone.

“He’s obviously a guy that I still very much like. And we think he is still a big part of this team.” 

Klich has made no secret of his frustration of late. A 2018 signing from the Eredivisie, Klich admits that this season is not going how he ‘imagined it’.