Seldom have Leeds United possessed more pulling power than when Marcelo Bielsa was balanced on his haunches on the Elland Road touchline; Calves of steel and a brain buzzing with ideas.
While Leeds United’s storied history and their reputation across the European game always makes West Yorkshire a rather tempting destination compared to clubs of a similar size and league position, it was the chance to hone their talents under a truly iconic head coach which convinced the likes of Rodrigo Moreno, Diego Llorente and Raphinha to sign on the dotted line.
It was Marcelo Bielsa, meanwhile, who turned Luke Ayling, Jack Harrison, Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford, Gianni Alioski, Stuart Dallas and more into some of the Premier League’s stand-out performers during that glorious 2020/21 season. All of those players have struggled to maintain the same standards elsewhere, tellingly. Kalvin Phillips is yet to make an impact at Ipswich Town while Jack Harrison has much to prove at Everton despite David Moyes’ backing.
And while Attila Szalai was hardly short of Premier League suitors three-and-a-half years ago, his head coach in the Hungarian national team was not shy about reccomending a move to Elland Road for the then-Fenerbahce youngster.
Under Bielsa, Marco Rossi said, 23-year-old Szalai would get all the guidance he needed to become one of the leading central defenders in European football.
Hungary boss once told Attila Szalai to join Leeds United
“Absolutely [Szalai should join Leeds]. In my opinion, [Bielsa] is not just a colleague but really one of the best managers,” Rossi told Inside Football back in 2021.
“I am sure that, by going to Marcelo Bielsa, Attila could have the option to improve even faster than with other coaches.”
Who knows where Attila Szalai would be right now, had Leeds stepped up their interest? Would his reputation have risen rapidly and then dipped dramatically, a la Bamford, Philipps and Harrison?
Or would he, like Ben White or Raphinha, have blossomed, have shown himself to be a Premier League-level footballer of serious potential before securing a mega-money switch to one of the planet’s most deep-pocketed institutions?
One thing is for certain; Attila Szalai paid the price for sticking around at Fenerbahce rather than when he was at his most coveted. The reward for his loyalty would prove to be an eventual £10 million switch to Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim.
His time in Germany consisted of only seven Bundesliga appearances in 18 months, half of those coming on loan at Freiburg. Now 27, a defender who really should be approaching the prime of his career has now been farmed out again, joining Standard Liege in Belgium until the end of the campaign.
Szalai a Bundesliga ‘flop’ as he moves on loan to Standard Liege
How did it go so wrong for a footballer once likened to Virgil van Dijk? One on the radar of Chelsea, Newcastle United and more only a few seasons back? German publication Buli News label Szalai ‘one of the biggest transfer flops’ in recent Bundesliga history, with an own goal 39 minutes into his Hoffenheim debut a pretty damning sign of things to come.
Szalai was hauled off at half-time during a debut of almost Jonathan Woodgate at Real Madrid levels of bad, and would be seen only three more times in a Hoffenheim shirt.
To his credit, the now-27-year-old has been nothing if not professional during his highly-disappointing stay in Sinsheim. This was an issue of quality, it seems, rather than character.
But, for a player considered one of the most promising young centre-halves on the market only four years ago, one who would become the second-most expensive signing in Hoffenheim’s history, his fall from grace has been brutal and seemingly never-ending.
Maybe, in hindsight, it was Attila Szalai who needed Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United back in 2021 more than Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United needed Attila Szalai.
“Despite the difficult sporting situation for him at TSG in recent months, Attila has always conducted himself with impeccable character and has put himself at the team’s service at all times,” Hoffenheim’s managing director Andreas Schicker said following the completion of Szalai’s switch to Belgium.
“Shortly after my arrival last year, we had a very in-depth and above all trusting discussion in which we both very quickly came to the conclusion that another loan was the best solution for all the parties involved in the current situation.
“I wish Attila all the best for the next few months in Liege and, above all, every success.”
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