Jesse Marsch’s year in charge was littered with mistakes and it proved to be the downfall of Leeds United, eventually proving too difficult to avoid relegation after his sacking.
The biggest mistake was recruitment during Marsch’s era. To describe it as woeful is an understatement, as Marsch brought in players he had worked with before, lacking any Premier League experience at all.
In came the likes of Rasmus Kristensen, Max Wober, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca and other players that simply failed in the Premier League. Leeds sold Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha but used the money poorly.
But one player Leeds were linked with during Marsch’s reign could have at least given the Canada boss something to show for his work in the transfer department. Ardon Jashari was a £6m target for Leeds.
Leeds could have signed Ardon Jashari for a bargain fee
At the time, ahead of the January 2023 window, Leeds were linked with Jashari. The Switzerland player was at Luzern at the time and Leeds were told a fee between £5.3m and £6.2m would do for Jashari.
But in January, Leeds signed Weston McKennie on loan from Juventus instead, and we all saw how that went. Jashari remained at Luzern until the summer of 2024 before choosing to join Club Brugge for £5m.
A year later, and Jashari is being linked with the big boys. Fabrizio Romano reports that AC Milan have tabled a £27m bid including add-ons for Jashari, after just one season with Belgian giants Brugge.
Romano said: “Understand AC Milan are set to improve their bid to Club Brugge for Ardon Jashari up to €27m fixed fee plus €5m add-ons. Club Brugge insist on higher fee but AC Milan will try and push again.”
Did any of Marsch’s signings actually work at Leeds United?
Leeds made 11 signings during Marsch’s era as manager. Eight in the summer of 2022 and then three more in January 2023. But it is fair to say, only one of those proved to be any kind of a success.
Willy Gnonto is the only player of those 11 to really have any kind of a positive impact, when transfer fee is considered. Georginio Rutter was excellent in the Championship, but he failed to keep Leeds up.
| Name | Fee | Bought from | Now | Success or failure |
| Georginio Rutter | £35.5m | Hoffenheim | Brighton | Success (in Championship) |
| Brenden Aaronson | £25m | Salzburg | Leeds | Failure (not proved £25m fee) |
| Luis Sinisterra | £23m | Feyenoord | Bournemouth | Failure (injuries stopped rhythm) |
| Tyler Adams | £20m | Leipzig | Bournemouth | Failure (yes – until hamstring injury) |
| Rasmus Kristensen | £10m | Salzburg | Frankfurt | Failure (no words needed) |
| Max Wober | £10m | Salzburg | Leeds | Failure (nine games in 24-25) |
| Marc Roca | £10m | Bayern | Real Betis | Failure (couldn’t last beyond 60 mins) |
| Darko Gyabi | £5m | Man City | Leeds | Failure (four Leeds appearances) |
| Willy Gnonto | £4m | Zurich | Leeds | Success (bargain, a key player) |
| Joel Robles | Free | Betis | Estoril | Failure (played four league games) |
| Weston McKennie | Loan | Juventus | Juventus | Failure (fitness below required level) |
Leeds needed a striker in January 2023 and chose Rutter but he failed to score during the second half of the 2022-23 season. Of the 11 players, seven have already left Leeds permanently and others will follow.
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