£1.5m Leeds ace explains why he snubbed Championship rivals for Elland Road

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Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich has admitted that he came close to joining Middlesbrough during Victor Orta’s last few days on Teesside, the Poland international told the Whites website.

Klich arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2017 from Dutch club FC Twente and has gone on to make 99 appearances for Leeds, scoring 15 goals and claiming 13 assists in all competitions.

Admittedly, the 29-year-old’s early days at Leeds following his reported £1.5million move (Yorkshire Evening Post) didn’t quite go according to plan – he spent the second half of the 2017-18 season on loan at FC Utrecht.

Since Marcelo Bielsa’s arrival at Elland Road, however, Klich has become a first-team player for Leeds, with 50 appearances last season and 39 this term.

“My agent called me and said he had an offer from Middlesbrough, because Victor Orta was with them at the time,” Klich told the Leeds website.

“I was at FC Twente and I said if I get an offer from England we should consider it, but then the plan changed.

“I ended up getting an offer from Leeds United (after Orta arrived) and I was happier. Obviously (Boro) were a Premier League team at the time, but you knew they were going down.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful to them, but Leeds is a bigger club. After that, I agreed everything quickly.”

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Klich has been crucial in the Whites’ battles at the top end of the Championship table last year and this term, while in contract, Boro are languishing close to the relegation zone.

Things could have been very different for both Klich and Leeds, particularly given the temptation of joining a side which was expected to be fighting for an immediate Premier League return.

In the end, it’s a great job – for himself and for the Whites – that he made the choice he did.