Marek Papszun has gone public on Jan Kuchta, saying the striker is “simply losing the competition” for a place at Legia Warszawa. The Legia coach linked that to injury and to Kuchta’s struggle to get back to the level he arrived with, which is not a comfortable place for a summer signing to be in November.

Papszun's verdict

Papszun said Kuchta had made a good start at Legia and that the staff had expected to build on it. Instead, injury intervened and the coach said the forward has not recovered his form, or the mindset, that he brought with him.

Quoted by Transfery.info, Papszun said: “Jan had a good start at Legia and I counted on us building on that. Unfortunately he was sidelined by injury, and after that he cannot return to his form, and above all the attitude, with which he arrived here. He has to deal with this. We, as the staff, I as the coach, are helping him. We will see what happens next. For now he is simply losing the competition.”

The numbers do not flatter him either. Kuchta has made 6 appearances this season and has 0 goals and 0 assists in league play. His last five league matches have brought only 8 minutes in total, with his only recent runout against Cracovia Kraków. That is a player drifting out of the main picture at exactly the point Legia would have wanted a striker to settle.

The clause talk around the move

The other reason this is becoming awkward for Legia is the way Czech media are discussing the deal itself. Reports have framed Kuchta’s move from Sparta Praha as a loan that could yet carry a mandatory purchase element, but that part of the story is still being treated as a possibility rather than confirmed fact.

There is also a wider Czech view that Kuchta was supposed to relaunch his career in Poland and has instead slipped further down the ladder. One report said he is “sinking lower and lower”, while another pointed to his bench role and the idea that he has long been regarded as a difficult player when not playing.

That view is harsher than Papszun’s public language, but the on-field evidence is not helping Kuchta push back. Legia are third in the Ekstraklasa with 24 points from 14 matches, and their recent league form has been uneven. The next league match is away to Wisła Płock on 2026-11-22, so there is not much time for the forward to change the mood around him.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →