Rajiv Van La Parra has said that Leeds were interested in signing him before he made his move to Middlesbrough on January 1.
He also said was surprised when Huddersfield town said that he was surplus to requirements.
In an interview with Dutch outlet ELFVoetbal, the 27-year-old winger said he wanted to go somewhere where he would get regular game-time and added that Leeds and Middlesbrough were immediately interested.
“Middlesbrough and Leeds United immediately contacted my agent,” Van La Parra said.
“Middlesbrough was something more concrete than Leeds. They did everything to get me in. I immediately got a good feeling about it. I also wanted to stay in England. I did not hear anything from the Premier League.”
OPINION
After repeatedly saying that Leeds weren’t interested in signing an outfield player in January, this comes as more proof that manager Marcelo Bielsa is looking to strengthen this window. Van La Parra, reportedly on £18,000-a-week at the Premier League side, made the move to Middlesbrough as soon as the January window opened. He’d made 97 appearances for Huddersfield across a loan move from Wolves and since he made his permanent move in 2016. And he said that Leeds were in contact “immediately” as soon as he became available. This ties in with what Bielsa said in his press conference today. He said that with Samu Saiz leaving and Pablo Hernandez playing as playmaker, Leeds “need a winger”. It won’t be Van La Parra, who’s playing for rivals Middlesbrough now, but Leeds fans can surely look forward to another attacking player joining in January. That will come as a relief for fans who were worried the squad wasn’t deep enough to make a sustained run at automatic promotion.