Mateusz Klich’s Leeds United career would appear to have now come full circle.

Once neglected and cast aside before the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa, the Polish midfielder had to really make a statement to the club’s hierarchy in order to keep him.

After being signed in 2017, he featured just once in the league before being loaned out to FC Twente in the Netherlands.

A certain Angus Kinnear would receive a knock at his office door around that period of time with there being one simple message from Klich; I’m going to prove you wrong.

It may have taken a while but the midfielder eventually lived up to that promise.

Under Bielsa, the now 32-year-old found the net on 22 occasions while assisting his teammates 21 times.

11 of those goal involvements crucially came in their promotion-winning season as the Poland international finally helped fire the Yorkshire outfit back to the promised land of the Premier League.

The ageing dynamo had a solid first term at the elite level, scoring four goals and assisting five for Bielsa.

However, in recent times, Klich looks a shadow of that player. Indeed, in the words of Conor McGilligan, he rather looks “broken” under Jesse Marsch with the YouTuber suggesting it is only a matter of time before he heads for the exit door.

He was ever-present in the top flight this season until the win at Anfield, but none of his appearances have come from the off.

It’s easy to see why when you analyse his performance against Wolves in the Carabao Cup.

This felt like an ideal opportunity for him to grab his chance, particularly with the World Cup just around the corner, but as the Whites tasted a 1-0 defeat to the Midlanders, he disappointed.

Featuring in a very young side, Klich should have been the man to guide them through it but his actual football skills right now leave plenty to be desired.

The Polish midfielder lost every single one of the defensive duels he contested while failing to make a single dribble.

Furthermore, he had just one shot in the entire game during a dismal effort offensively.

It was unsurprising, therefore, to see him handed a player rating of just 5 by Leeds Live’s Beren Cross who suggested he never did anything to “really hurt the hosts."

On what was Klich’s first start of the campaign, this was his opportunity to really prove that he can compete with Marc Roca and Tyler Adams for a starting berth.

Sadly, he only damaged his cause, with the threat of being tossed aside permanently next year a very real possibility now.