It seems like a long time ago now, but cast your mind back to the final days of the summer transfer window.
Leeds United had spent big while revamping their squad with the likes of Rodrigo, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch, and it seemed as though they had one more marquee signing lined up.
Michael Cuisance’s bags were packed and he was ready to jet in from Germany and sign a contract that would have seen him join Leeds for £18m.
However, a failed medical meant that the deal couldn’t go through, and Leeds were left without a new midfielder with just days of the transfer window to go.
Cuisance would eventually join Marseille, and with the £18m Leeds saved by not signing the Frenchman, they bought a Brazilian winger by the name of Raphinha.
As we all know, Raphinha has gone on to prove himself to be one of the bargains of the season at Leeds, and he’s now worth a whole lot more than the £17m Leeds ended up paying for him from Rennes.
Meanwhile, Cuisance is struggling at Marseille, he’s started just two league games for the Ligue 1 outfit in 2021, and he’s only played a full 90 once all season.
Leeds looked set to spend the remainder of their transfer budget on Cuisance in the summer, but a failed medical meant they had to look elsewhere, and they ended up using those funds to sign Raphinha, a man who could now realistically be sold for a hefty profit, with the player’s agent claiming that he’s now worth a lot more than United paid for him.
Cuisance may have been a success if he’d joined Leeds, it’s impossible to really say how any player would get on under Marcelo Bielsa until you see them.
However, it’s hard to imagine that he’d have been as good as Raphinha, and in years to come, Leeds may look at his failed medical as a moment that actually ended up earning the club millions of pounds if one of Europe’s super-clubs end up swooping for Leeds’ star man.
Cuisance’s failed medical was a cruel twist of fate at the time, but now it looks like a really positive sliding doors moment at Elland Road.
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