Mateusz Klich

Mateusz Klich
Personal information
Full name Mateusz Andrzej Klich[1]
Date of birth (1990-06-13) 13 June 1990
Place of birth Tarnów, Poland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Leeds United
Number 43
Youth career
1999–2003 Tarnovia Tarnów
2003–2007 Cracovia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Cracovia 53 (5)
2011–2013 VfL Wolfsburg II 12 (1)
2012–2013 → PEC Zwolle (loan) 13 (2)
2013–2014 PEC Zwolle 30 (4)
2014–2015 VfL Wolfsburg II 6 (3)
2015–2016 1. FC Kaiserslautern 21 (4)
2015–2016 1. FC Kaiserslautern II 4 (0)
2016–2017 FC Twente 29 (6)
2017– Leeds United 15 (4)
2017–2018 → FC Utrecht (loan) 16 (1)
National team‡
2008 Poland U-18 5 (0)
2008 Poland U-19 2 (0)
2010–2011 Poland U-20 2 (0)
2010–2011 Poland U-21 3 (1)
2011– Poland 12 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 03:58, 04 October 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 September 2018

Mateusz Andrzej Klich ([maˈtɛuʂ ˈklix]; born 13 June 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Leeds United and Poland at international level. He can play as a deep-lying playmaker in central midfield.

Club career

Cracovia

Born in Tarnów, Klich debuted in the Ekstraklasa in November 2008. During the 2009–10 season, he gradually became a regular in Cracovia's starting eleven.

Wolfsburg

On 14 June 2011, he signed with Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg on a three-year deal. Wolfsburg paid €1.5 million for Klich, making him the most valuable player in Cracovia's club history.[2][3]

PEC Zwolle

Klich was sent on loan to Dutch club PEC Zwolle for half a season before making the transfer permanent for a fee reported as €200,000,[4][5] with Wolfsburg securing a repurchase option.[6] During his time at Zwolle he won the 2013–14 KNVB Cup on 20 April 2014 beating Ajax 5–1 in the final which also saw the side obtain Europa League qualification.[7]

Return to Wolfsburg

In June 2014 Wolfsburg exercised their repurchase option for Klich.[8] During the subsequent first half of the season however, he did not play in the Bundesliga, after struggling to displace regular starters Kevin De Bruyne, Josuha Guilavogui and Luiz Gustavo in the centre midfield positions and was used only in the reserve team.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In early January 2015, Klich joined 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, with him signing a contract until summer 2018. The transfer fee was undisclosed.[9]

FC Twente

On 26 August 2016, he joined Eredivisie side FC Twente on a three-year contract.[10] He was given squad number 43 and made his debut for FC Twente on 10 September 2016 against SC Heerenveen. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 October 2016, in a 1–1 draw against Heracles Almelo.[11] In his first season at the club, and he scored eight goals and made six assists to help FC Twente to a seventh-place finish in the Eredivisie.[12]

Leeds United

After an initial bid was rejected,[13] on 23 June 2017, Klich signed a three-year deal with English club Leeds United for an undisclosed fee.[14] On 9 August, he made his first-team debut in a 4–1 League Cup victory against Port Vale,[15] and his League debut 10 days later in a 2–0 win against Sunderland.[16] However, he found himself behind Kalvin Phillips, Eunan O'Kane and Ronaldo Vieira in the pecking order. His first and only League start for the season came on the 26 September 2017, in the defeat against Cardiff City with Klich slipping and losing possession leading to a goal from Kenneth Zohore.[17] Klich revealed that he felt his unfortunate slip led to him being dropped by the then manager Thomas Christiansen.[18] After October he was used very sparsely.[19]

On 22 January 2018, Klich joined Dutch club FC Utrecht on a six-month loan from Leeds United until the end of the 2017–18 season.[20]

FC Utrecht loan

On 22 January 2018, Klich was sent on loan at FC Utrecht until the end of the season.[20] On 4 February 2018, Klich made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Excelsior.[21] He quickly re-found his form at FC Utrecht, he gained an assist against Roda JC on 18 February in a 4-1 victory.[22]

On 29 April 2018, after FC Utrecht's 2-2 draw against Heracles Almelo, Klich according to Opta Stats created 11 chances against Heracles Almelo and gained an assist and man of the match award in the match, the chance creation by Klich was the highest amount of chances created in a single Eredivisie match since Christian Eriksen for Ajax in 2012 against Roda JC.[23][24]

On 6 May 2018, on the final day of the season, Klich scored the winner for Utrecht (his first goal for the club) in a 1-0 victory against VVV-Venlo. With Klich impressing for Utrecht during the loan spell and helping them finish 5th and into the Eredivisie Europa League playoffs. When asked if he would return to Leeds he said he 'was 99% sure as he had unfinished business'.[25]

Return to Leeds

After returning to Leeds for the start of pre-season under new Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa,[26] Klich made his first appearance back at Leeds in the pre-season friendly 1–1 draw against York City on 20 July 2018, where he played in a new centre-back role before reverting to a deep-lying playmaker position in the second half.[27]

He scored his first league goal for Leeds in the opening game of the 2018–19 season on 5 August 2018 against Stoke City at Elland Road in a 3–1 win, his first competitive game for the club in almost seven months.[28] He followed that goal up the following week by scoring his second goal for the club in a 4-1 win against Derby County on 11 August 2018.[29][30] After scoring against Norwich City on 25 August, making it 3 goals in 5 games, on 27 August, Klich was named in the Poland squad for the first time in 4 years after impressing for Leeds at the beginning of the 2018-19 season.[31]

International career

Klich made his debut for the national team of Poland on 5 June 2011 in a friendly match against Argentina. Poland won the match 2–1.[32] He scored his first goal in national team in the friendly game against Denmark on 14 August 2013.

On 27 August 2018, Klich was named in Poland team by manager Jerzy Brzęczek for matches with Italy and Republic of Ireland after a four-year absence from the Poland national side, with Klich impressing for Leeds after scoring 3 goals and 1 assist in the first 5 games of the 2018-19 season.[31] On 7 September, Klich started for Poland in their UEFA Nations League 1-1 draw against Italy, with Klich having an involvement in the opening goal for Piotr Zieliński.[33] On 11 September, he came off the bench in a friendly against Republic of Ireland to score an 87th-minute equalizer, his second national team goal to date.[34]

International goals

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first.[35]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 August 2013PGE Arena Gdańsk, Gdańsk Denmark
1–0
3–2
Friendly
2.11 September 2018Stadion Miejski, Wrocław Republic of Ireland
1–1
1–1

Personal life

His father is Wojciech Klich, who was also a professional footballer, playing 84 matches in the Polish first division, and currently works as a youth coach at Cracovia.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 August 2018[36]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Cracovia 2008–09[36] Ekstraklasa 5000~~~~50
2009–10[36] 21100~~~~211
2010–11[36] 27420~~~~294
Cracovia total 53520~~~~555
VfL Wolfsburg II 2011–12[36] Regionalliga Nord 91~~~~~~91
2012–13[36] 30~~~~~~30
Wolfsburg II total 12100~~~~121
PEC Zwolle (loan) 2012–13[37] Eredivisie 13210~~~~142
PEC Zwolle 2013–14[38] Eredivisie 30440~~~~344
VfL Wolfsburg II 2014–15[36] Regionalliga Nord 63~~~~~~63
1. FC Kaiserslautern 2014–15[36] 2.Bundesliga 5100~~~~51
2015–16[36] 16320~~~~183
Kaiserslautern total 21420~~~~234
Kaiserslautern II 2014–15 Regionalliga Südwest 20~~~~~~20
2015–16 20~~~~~~20
Kaiserslautern II total 40~~~~~~40
FC Twente 2016–17[39] Eredivisie 29610~~~~306
Leeds United 2017–18[40] Championship 4010400090
FC Utrecht (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 12000~~~~120
Leeds United 2018-19 Championship 5300000053
Career total 18627110400020127

    Honours

    PEC Zwolle

    References

    1. ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Leeds United" (PDF). English Football League. p. 21. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
    2. ↑ "New Wolfsburg signing Mateusz Klich feels equal to his new teammates | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
    3. ↑ "Who is Leeds United's latest signing, Mateusz Klich? - The Boot Room". tbrfootball.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
    4. ↑ Abgang Nummer 22: Hasani wechselt zu Bröndby 3 September 2013, t-online.de
    5. ↑ 'Fantastische' Klich blijft bij PEC Zwolle Archived 28 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. 26 June 2013, voetbalprimeur.nl
    6. ↑ Zwei Abgänge 26 June 2013, vfl-wolfsburg.de
    7. ↑ "Dutch Cup final: Fireworks hold up PEC Zwolle win". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 April 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
    8. ↑ Deshalb holt der VfL Klich zurück 25 June 2014, waz-online.de
    9. ↑ "Mateusz Klich wird ein Roter Teufel" [Mateusz Klich becomes a Red Devil] (in German). 1. FC Kaiserslautern. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
    10. ↑ "Mateusz Klich voor drie jaar naar FC Twente » FC Twente" (in Dutch). FC Twente. 26 August 2016.
    11. ↑ "Games played by Mateusz Klich in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
    12. ↑ "Leeds United closing in on Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich". Yorkshire Evening Post. 22 June 2017.
    13. ↑ "TT: Leeds trekt aan Mateusz Klich, Van Mieghem wéér Superboer?" (in Dutch). AD Sportwereld. 20 June 2017.
    14. ↑ https://www.leedsunited.com/news/ticket-news/21977/klich-signs-up
    15. ↑ "Leeds United 4–1 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 9 August 2017.
    16. ↑ "Sunderland vs Leeds". Sky Sports. 19 August 2017.
    17. ↑ "Cardiff City blow away Leeds United to move to the top of the Championship". 26 September 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
    18. ↑ "Leeds United: Thomas Christiansen stopped speaking to me, reveals 'unfinished' Klich". 8 May 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
    19. ↑ "Mat Klich | Football Stats | Leeds United | Season 2017/2018 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
    20. 1 2 Middenvelder Mateusz Klich naar FC Utrecht (Dutch). Voetbal International. 22 January 2018.
    21. ↑ "Mat Klich". 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
    22. ↑ "Mat Klich". 30 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
    23. ↑ Urquhart, Joe (1 May 2018). "What do the stats say about Leeds United loanee Mateusz Klich?". Retrieved 4 June 2018.
    24. ↑ "Opta Johan - Mat Klich". 30 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
    25. ↑ "Mateusz Klich breekt de ban in Galgenwaard". 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
    26. ↑ "Baker, Klich and Ideguchi to feature for Leeds United at York tonight – but Blackman misses out again". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 July 2018.
    27. ↑ "REPORT: YORK CITY 1-1 LEEDS UNITED". Leeds United. 19 July 2018.
    28. ↑ "Leeds Impress To Beat Stoke In Opener". BBC Sport. 5 August 2018.
    29. ↑ "DERBY COUNTY VS LEEDS UNITED". Leeds United. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
    30. ↑ "Derby 1-4 Leeds - Bielsa's side thrash Rams with brilliant attacking display". BBC Sport. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
    31. 1 2 "Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich completes remarkable turnaround with Poland call-up". YEP. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
    32. ↑ Polska ograła Argentynę w Warszawie 5 June 2011, liga.com.pl
    33. ↑ "Italy 1 Poland 1". Sky Sports. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
    34. ↑ "Poland vs. Republic of Ireland - 11 September 2018 - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
    35. ↑ "Klich, Mateusz". National Football Teams. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
    36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mateusz Klich at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
    37. ↑ "Games played by Mateusz Klich in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
    38. ↑ "Games played by Mateusz Klich in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
    39. ↑ "Games played by Mateusz Klich in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
    40. ↑ "Games played by Mateusz Klich in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
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