Things are reportedly not going well of late for Bayern Munich loanee Michaël Cuisance

Many Bayern Munich fans are already counting the cash that the club will make this summer by selling some of the players it has loaned away.

For Michaël Cuisance, it might be hard to convince Olympique Marseille to spend the €10 million it will reportedly take to acquire him. In fact, some Leeds United observers are now considering their club’s inability to land Cuisance last summer as a “dodged bullet” (per Sport Witness):

Needing a midfielder during the summer/autumn transfer window, Leeds United, with Marcelo Bielsa at the helm, tried to bring in Michaël Cuisance. The Bayern Munich player was in need of some regular minutes, blocked by the abundance of talent already at Hansi Flick’s disposal, and a €20m move to Elland Road was organised. However, at the last minute, Leeds seemingly pulled the plug for reasons that remain unknown to this day, allowing the Frenchman to head to Marseille on loan, where he was welcomed as a smart piece of business.

What followed, however, will have caused a sigh of relief to those in charge of transfers at Leeds United, as their decision to move on from the 21-year-old appears to have been a great one.

Cuisance received a lot of praise upon his arrival at Marseille, but the French club has seen a lot of turmoil on-and-off the field this season. Manager Andre Villas-Boas left the club earlier this month after some internal conflict, which left Nasser Larguet in charge. Villas-Boas was allegedly one of Cuisance’s prime supporters with Marseille. In addition, the club is sitting in ninth place of the Ligue 1 table — below where they were expected to be at this stage of the season.

Under Larguet, Cuisance is reportedly not excelling:

Stats wise, Cuisance has 16 league appearances to his name this season, starting 10 of those, during which he’s managed just the one assist. He was in Nasser Larguet’s first XI against Bordeaux on Sunday, but came off in the 63rd minute to be replaced by Olivier Ntcham, with L’Equipe giving him a 2/10 for his performance. The midfield of Cuisance, Valentin Rongier and Pape Gueye was ‘bullied’ by their opponents, with the Bayern Munich loanee ‘collapsing’ and ‘showing limits that are starting to make you wonder’. All he managed to achieve was a ‘festival of sideways or backwards passes that didn’t bring a lot’, and when he tried to send the ball forward, ‘there was a lot of waste’.

More, the local press is also starting to hammer Cuisance, which is never a good sign:

This is seen as ‘another failed game’ for Cuisance, who was labelled one of the game’s ‘flops’ by the national newspaper, which is echoed by local outlet La Provence. Pointing out the sideways and backwards pass problem as well, La Provence also add that ‘his attitude when the ball is lost is far from exemplary.’

As mentioned above, the purchase option on Cuisance is reportedly €10 million and if his performances are seen that poorly by the Olympique Marseille staff, it is hard to believe that the French club would pull the trigger on the 21-year-old.

Anyway, the loan move to Marseille seemed like a great fit for a dynamic player, who many thought just needed an opportunity for consistent playing time. Simply put, things have not worked out.

BFW Analysis

With an abundance of skill and talent, it is possible that Cuisance might just need some stability and another opportunity — that likely will not be possible with Bayern Munich. However, the Frenchman will likely not have much room for error wherever he goes next. Cuisance will not only have to perform consistently on the pitch, he will also have to prove he has the mentality and attitude to make it a high level.

As for Bayern Munich, should Marseille opt to return Cuisance to Germany, I’d expect Bayern Munich to lower their asking price and look to move the youngster at a loss. Cuisance moved to Bayern Munich in 2019 on an €8 million move from Borussia Mönchengladbach.