Leeds United dodged £20m bullet now staring down the barrel of relegation hat-trick into third tier

"There’s music in his left foot," said Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic of Michael Cuisance, the midfielder who flew into West Yorkshire to complete a move that had been agreed between the two clubs.

Leeds were in need of a central midfielder and Cuisance was a 21-year-old French talent who came with plenty of hype and apparent potential. There were question marks, however, as the deal progressed towards its final stages. Why were the German giants so content to sell a player to whom they had given a five-year-deal less than 12 months prior, even with a buy-back clause agreed with Leeds? ESPN’s Bundesliga reporter Archie Rhind-Tutt told the YEP: "I think he’s undoubtedly talented but thinks highly of himself and sees himself at a level which he hasn’t quite reached yet. I don’t think he’s justified the hype. Gladbach wanted him to stay and bring him on further but Cuisance thought he was ready for the next step and curiously, wanted more game time. So you go to Bayern?"

There were those at Leeds who later admitted to some misgivings when Cuisance and his entourage arrived from Germany, but it was a medical, rather than anything the player did or said, that brought the deal crashing down. A planned Thursday unveiling never came and the silent limbo left fans wondering where their shiny new signing was. By the time the news broke, he was homeward bound. Concerns over a scan of his foot spooked Leeds and they ultimately decided to step away and send Cuisance away.

Cuisance, who instead went on loan to Marseille, disputed that story, as did Bayern Munich. “There were no problems with the medical visit," Cuisance told RMC Sport. "I had one in Marseille and it went really well. There was no problem on my end.

"After that, I don't know any more. Here I passed it and I am in good shape." Bayern boss Hansi Flick added: "It was certainly a setback, but I can say that our medical staff have a completely different opinion. That’s why we’ve told him we support him in every way. For him the position is difficult.” Marseille head of football Pablo Longoria also backed the player's position. “We did not find any issues with his medical, everything was done properly,” he said. “He is completely available, at 100 per cent.”

Leeds went on to sign Raphinha in the final weekend of that transfer window and Cuisance went on to underwhelm in his native France, scoring twice and adding a single assist in 30 games, 13 of which were starts. Football Club de Marseille journalist Mourad Aerts told the YEP: “It went miserably. The fans here had a lot of expectations regarding this supposed promising French talent from the European champions. His first games were okay, no more, he had one really good game against Nantes and then he went from being neutral to really bad. He gave the feeling of having lost himself and his football.”

Marseille did not take up the €18m option to make Cuisance a permanent signing, he returned to Bayern again and after just 12 minutes of Bundesliga action in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign they sold him to relegation-threatened Serie A side Venezia in a deal worth just under €5m. There, Cuisance did at least start. He played 12 games alongside current Leeds man Ethan Ampadu. But following relegation Ampadu went back to parent club Chelsea and Cuisance found himself in the Italian second tier. Falling out of favour midway through the 22/23 season, he was loaned out to Serie A Sampdoria, with whom he finished rock bottom and suffered a second successive relegation. Sampdoria, like Marseille before them, did not take up their option to buy him.

This season has brought another loan move for Cuisance, now 24. He joined newly-promoted 2. Bundesliga side VfL Osnabrück on a season-long loan. "I really wanted to return to Germany," he said at his introduction. "If you think about VfL, you immediately think about the fantastic fans and the atmospheric stadium. The club is a real traditional club and I am happy that it worked out with the transfer. The talks with those responsible at VfL gave me the good feeling right from the start that I am in the right place at the right time. I can hardly wait to play in purple and white." And play he has - only a trio of suspensions have kept him out of league action. Alas, the league table shows VfL Osnabrück at the foot of the table, nine points adrift and heading for what would be a third relegation in a row for Cuisance and arguably, given the level at which he now plays, the most painful of the lot.

Leeds United's history, like that of any club, is littered with ones who got away and deals that fell apart. In the last summer window of Victor Orta's time as director of football, there were a couple of high profile deals that he and Leeds went after and did not secure. But few of Elland Road's nearly-men can bewilder quite like the one they let get away in 2021.