March 01, (THEWILL) – Leeds owner, Andrea Radrizzani, has revealed that the club missed out on the opportunity to sign Dutch forward, Cody Gakpo, because then-Netherlands Coach, Louis van Gaal, persuaded him to stay at PSV instead of joining Leeds.
Gakpo went on to have a fantastic World Cup and eventually moved to Liverpool for £37 million (€42m) in January. Radrizzani revealed that the deal was all but done before van Gaal’s intervention, leaving the club currently hovering above the relegation zone.
Radrizzani stated that Leeds had other failed transfer swoops, including deals for Charles De Ketelaere and Bamba Dieng. As a result, the club had to accelerate Wilfried Gnonto’s Elland Road career, with the player being a top talent since arriving from FC Zurich. He has scored four goals in 16 appearances so far.
After missing out on Gakpo, Leeds signed Georginio Rutter in January for what could rise to a club-record fee of £35m (€43m), just £2m short of what Liverpool spent on their original target. Incidentally, Gakpo struggled at first for Liverpool but has since scored in wins over Everton and Newcastle United.
The Dutchman’s stand-out feature in the Qatar World Cup saw his value triple ahead of his move to Liverpool. Although Leeds missed out on Gakpo, Radrizzani hopes the signings of Gnonto and Rutter will help propel the team up the table.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
