The transfer period can be tricky for any club as they often invest heavily in a player hoping that he would significantly improve the team. While some signings do manage to make their mark, some fail miserably.
Championship outfit Leeds United also have had their brush with some very poor transfers in recent years, and here we take a look at the five worst transfers of the club over the last decade.
Mateusz Klich
Polish midfielder Klich arrived last summer from Dutch outfit FC Twente with a solid reputation of being a dependable central midfielder.
Things never worked out for him at Elland Road though, as former manager Thomas Christiansen clearly didn’t rate him highly.
He started just a single game in the Championship against Cardiff City in which he put up a meek display that seemed to have sealed his future at the club. Klich was loaned out to FC Utrecht in the January window. He fared better at the Dutch club, but it’s hard to imagine he will have a future with Leeds.
Casper Sloth
A promising creative midfielder, Sloth was signed by the Whites in the summer of 2014 to add some guile and creativity in the attacking third.
However, the Danish midfielder found himself struggling to cope with the physical nature of the Championship. He spent most of his debut campaign on the bench under then manager Neil Redfearn.
Redfearn’s successors Uwe Rosler and Steve Evans also did not find much use for Sloth. And following just 14 appearances across two seasons, the Dane returned to his homeland with Aalborg BK in 2016.
Guiseppe Bellusci
The 28-year old centre-back joined Leeds back in the summer of 2014 from Italian club Catania for a fee of £1.6m. He has not managed to endear himself to the Elland Road faithful, owing to his over-aggressive and error-prone nature.
He went on to make 61 appearances over two seasons that were wrought with disciplinary issues and erroneous displays. Starting from his second appearance as a Leeds player when he was shown a direct red card against Watford, which was followed by allegations of racism against Norwich City forward Cameron Jerome, the Italian made several high-profile mistakes during his time at the club.
Leeds shipped him out on loan at the start of the 2016/17 campaign to Italian side Empoli and he moved to US Palermo on a free transfer last summer, following the termination of his contract.
Jimmy Kebe
Leeds brought in Kebe on loan from Crystal Palace during the January transfer window of the 2013/14 season as they did not have enough quality out on the wings. He had performed well for Reading during his previous stint in the Championship, and as a result, expectations were high when he was signed by the Whites.
However, he turned out to be a huge dud for the Yorkshire giants during his short stint at the club. While he did show glimpses of what he can do, he never really got going at Leeds and made only nine appearances, scoring a solitary goal.
Paul Rachubka
Signed from Blackpool as a back-up to first-choice goalkeeper Andy Lonergan in 2011, Rachubka was forced into action very early in the season after the Leeds No.1 picked up an injury.
However, the Englishman failed to grab his chances as he put on a series of error-prone displays. The final nail in Rachubka’s coffin came in a 5-0 home defeat against former club Blackpool as he was at fault for three of the first four goals before being substituted.
He was immediately loaned out to Tranmere Rovers and also spent loan spells at Leyton Orient and Accrington Stanley before Leeds released him in 2013.
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