Mateusz Klich holds back tears at Luke Ayling tribute as ex-Leeds United teammate set for January transfer window Middlesbrough move
Mateusz Klich has posted a reaction online to the news that former Leeds United teammate Luke Ayling is set to leave the club imminently.
The Polish midfielder commented under a lengthy tribute to the right-back from LUFCDATA on Twitter on 10 January with a series of the “face holding back tears” emoji [Emojipedia].
Phil Hay and David Ornstein reported earlier the same morning that Ayling, 32, was set to undergo a medical at Middlesbrough before a six-month loan that would see him to the end of his Leeds United contract.
Klich, himself a former fan-favourite and key part of the Marcelo Bielsa side which won promotion from the Championship last time around before excelling in their first season back in the Premier League, left in similar circumstances a year ago for DC United in MLS.
Live long in the memory
Time waits for nobody and just as Klich, once a fixture of the midfield at Elland Road, was struggling for game time under Jesse Marsch this time last season Ayling has lost his place under Daniel Farke.
Despite starting the campaign as the starter on the right of defence the German made clear that the full-back wasn’t in his plans when he started omitting him from the match-day squad altogether.
Injury to summer loan signing Djed Spence didn’t give the veteran a route back into the picture as Archie Gray took over as the regular right-back instead, with Jamie Shackleton also preferred.
So a departure was starting to look inevitable in the summer either way, but with game time on offer elsewhere it is understandable that a move is imminent, even if it is to a Championship rival.
Leeds United surely have to sign at least one full-back now in this window, with Spence already sent back to Tottenham, Ayling on his way out, Gray and Shackleton natural midfielders and both Sam Byram and Junior Firpo ongoing injury concerns.
It has been one way traffic in terms of the transfer window so far, with Robin Koch’s permanent exit now confirmed after agreeing a pre-contract with loan club Eintracht Frankfurt, so Farke needs to do some business in the opposite direction as he looks to keep his promotion bid on track.
In other Leeds United news, a BBC Sport pundit reacted instantly to the “frustrated” Elland Road favourite’s departure.