These days, Leeds United icon Mateusz Klich is back at his boyhood club Cracovia and is playing regular football. But on Sunday, the Elland Road favourite was accused of diving.
Returning to Cracovia in the summer after a couple of years in the MLS with DC United and Atlanta United, Klich has been a regular for Cracovia. The 35-year-old has already played almost 1000 minutes.
Which former Leeds player would you have back, if you could pick one? Raphinha surely has to be up there💎
It has been a good start to the season for Cracovia, too. Sitting in fifth place, Klich has been sitting a bit deeper than he was often did at Leeds, bombing on past the strikers and getting amongst the goals.
But on Sunday, Cracovia failed to pick up three points at home to Lech despite their opponents going down to 10 men a few minutes before half-time. Even if Cracovia had equalised too, before half-time.
Mateusz Klich responds when accused of diving by supporter
Cracovia finally went ahead on 79 minutes, only for Lech to equalise two minutes later and the game to end 2-2. Klich and Cracovia were pushing and clearly, trying everything to secure all three points.
That included, Klich diving. As much as he is a Leeds legend, even Elland Road fans won’t be able to defend Klich’s actions on Sunday as the Polish midfielder dived in an attempt to win a Cracovia penalty.
Lech star Yannick Angero dived in and won the ball but with the referee behind the play, Klich attempted to con the man in the middle with a dive. The referee, rightly so, was having none of Klich’s antics.
A fan asked Klich on X: “Are you proud of yourself? To pull off something like that?”, while posting a clip of Klich’s dive. Typically, in true Klich style, he replied: “If it comes to that, I’ll do what needs to be done.”
What was your favourite Mateusz Klich moment? 🥤
The king of winding players up!
Mateusz Klich’s hope of a Leeds United return won’t be fulfilled
Klich left Leeds in January 2023 after struggling to get game time under Jesse Marsch. The midfielder was also left angered that Marsch’s unwillingness to use him had seen Klich miss out on the 2022 World Cup.
So, Klich left Leeds a month before Marsch was sacked. Having ended his Leeds spell on 195 appearances, Klich said he would love to return to Leeds to play the remaining five matches and get to a landmark 200.
“I have 195 games at Leeds and I told our directors when my contract was terminated that I would still be back for those five games. We’ll see how it all turns out,” Klich said, when asked about a possible return.
But now back in Polish football and with Leeds in the Premier League, the chances of doing a deal for the veteran midfielder seem unlikely. It looks likely that Klich will end up retiring at boyhood side Cracovia.
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