Leeds United's spending would have reached £115 million this summer if a deal for Bayern Munich's Michael Cuisance could have been struck, but a failed medical railroaded a potential move.
The 21-year-old subsequently joined Champions League outfit Olympique de Marseille on loan and has featured regularly for the Ligue 1 side across domestic and European competition.
Leeds supporters may look wistfully at what could have been, especially considering the numerous players to have been deployed in the No. 8 role - with varying success - this season. However, there were concerns over how quickly Cuisance was able to get up to speed with the rest of the squad, given how infrequently he had been used at Bayern Munich.
His time at Marseille has been the definition of hit-and-miss so far. In three Ligue 1 games Cuisance has featured in, Marseille have won all three, but in the Champions League his three outings have all ended in defeat.
In the matches he has started, Cuisance has been regarded as one of Marseille's more combative players, tackling well but his distribution has left a lot to be desired, as has his final output. His six appearances so far for the French side have failed to produce a single goal or assist.
Contrastingly, Leeds' current midfield options have chipped in with their fair share of decisive contributions. Mateusz Klich has two goals and three assists in eight games as per WhoScored, while Rodrigo Moreno scored his first Leeds goal against Manchester City, whilst playing roughly the same number of minutes as Cuisance at OM.
Pablo Hernandez is yet to get on the scoresheet this season, or lay on an assist for a teammate but with the past four seasons as insurance, he is bound to make his mark on this Premier League campaign sooner rather than later.
Cuisance and the rest of the Marseille squad drew criticism from boss Andre Villas-Boas following their latest Champions League defeat.
Speaking to French outlet RMC, Villas-Boas said: "In order to be s*** in the Champions' League, you have to at least qualify for the Champions' League. We did it and we are being s***."
The Portuguese manager was upset following the team's second consecutive 3-0 defeat in the competition, suffered at the hands of FC Porto. Cuisance started the previous outing against Manchester City, in which Marseille were beaten comfortably, before being dropped for the Porto match-up.
While the 21-year-old's start has not necessarily been poor, he has failed to hugely impact the French side in the same way Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin do on a regular basis. Questions were also raised surrounding Cuisance's attitude around the time of his Leeds medical, with historic quotes from former Borussia Monchengladbach teammates surfacing, which suggested his demeanour may not mix well with Leeds' tight group.
Had Cuisance taken to life in Ligue 1 and the Champions League with relative ease, Leeds may be rueing their decision to veto the deal based on a failed medical, however, that has not been the case. The goals have not flowed, nor have the assists or creative potential that made him such a lucrative prospect.
If this current vein of middling form continues, Leeds' decision to keep their pockets lined with the £20 million that was subsequently invested elsewhere in Raphinha, could prove to have been a shrewd move.
