Leeds United welcome back Pawel Cibicki and Pontus Jansson will hope ‘politics’ don’t get in his way

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Leeds United will soon welcome back Pawel Cibicki from a loan spell at Molde. The Swedish international joined the Norwegian side in July and went on to play in the Eliteserien with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

He scored three goals and assisted the same amount in 13 appearances for the club. Now he is a Leeds player again, with the Norwegian season ending earlier this month.

His Leeds career came off the skids in January as first Thomas Christiansen and then Paul Heckingbottom decided he was not needed. His last appearance for Leeds came in a 0-0 draw with Hull City at the end of January.

He had actually impressed during times with Leeds. In his seven fleeting Championship appearances, he provided two assists. However, much like Mateusz Klich, he seemed doomed at Leeds after the FA Cup exit to Newport County.

The decision to ice out Cibicki did not please his pal and Leeds United stalwart, Pontus Jansson. He slammed ‘politics’ as the reason behind the ‘pretty sick’ treatment of the player under Christiansen.

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“I think it’s pretty sick. We won four or five matches when he started and he did well, but later he did not play anymore.

“It’s the boring part of the football world with a lot of politics. I try to help Pawel every day and keep him in good mood. He did well when he played and he deserves more, but then I can understand the new coach (Heckingbottom) who may not have seen Pawel so much.”

– Pontus Jansson on Cibicki’s lack of first-team action

Leeds will certainly have to consider giving the £1.5 million man a go. He played his best football at Molde from the left-wing, a position where Ezgjan Alioski has flattered to deceive in recent weeks.

Considering how well Klich has performed after his return from a loan spell, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the 24-year-old could do similar.

He would need a few weeks to get up to Bielsa’s fitness standards. But Cibicki could be like a new signing for Leeds in the weeks to come.