Garry Monk made a last-gasp bid to win the race for new Leeds United signing Mateusz Klich, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
The newspaper claim that Middlesbrough manager Monk, who was in charge at Elland Road last season, “attempted to sign Klich” before his transfer to Leeds was announced on Friday.
The central midfielder has joined the Championship club for a fee reportedly in the region of £1.5million and he will bring more creativity to an area of the pitch where it was lacking last season.
The midfielder made 29 appearances for FC Twente in the Dutch top division last season, scoring an impressive six goals and supplying four assists to help the team to finish seventh.
The report of Monk’s last-ditch move for Klich comes after Sky Sports reported on their website last Thursday that Leeds had been tracking the Poland international, 27, since Monk identified him as a target last summer shortly before his move from German second-tier side Kaiserlautern to Twente.
Monk was appointed by Middlesbrough two-and-a-half weeks ago after handing in his resignation at Elland Road and was replaced at the helm by Thomas Christiansen, who guided APOEL Nicosia to the Cyprus top-flight title and the last-16 of the Europa League last season.
Klich, who has accumulated 10 Poland caps, is set to join the likes of Liam Bridcutt, Ronaldo Vieira, Eunan O’Kane and Kalvin Phillips in the battle for central midfield places next season.
He began his career at Cracovia in Poland before a move to Wolfsburg in 2011. He was then sent out on loan to PEC Zwolle on two occasions before joining Kaiserslautern in 2015.