Phil Hay has claimed that Leeds United’s bid for Cody Gakpo was over the valuation PSV Eindhoven placed on the winger.
It was a manic deadline day for Leeds as they looked confident of landing Gakpo having lodged a huge bid, which was more than the valuation of the payer, only for PSV to then U-turn and decide they want to keep the winger.
Gakpo could have been a great signing and ultimately a top Daniel James replacement given he registered 36 goal involvements last season and captained his side at just 23, but despite Victor Orta’s best attempts, they weren’t able to lure him to Elland Road.
Hay has now revealed on The Phil Hay Show that Leeds’ bid was more than PSV expected to receive for Gakpo and were confident of bringing him to Elland Road on deadline day.
(5:30) “There was a point at which Leeds were under the impression that Southampton had effectively matched PSV’s valuation or were very close to it, so Leeds, from what I’m told, went in above Southampton’s valuation in the hope of killing the competition, getting the deal done, striking a quick agreement with PSV that meant Gakpo could be on the plane the following morning.
Will Leeds regret not signing Gakpo?
Yes!
“From what I’m told as well, they were confident and optimistic that it was their offer that Gakpo wanted to accept it was that if he was coming to the Premier League, it was Elland Road that he wanted to move to.
“But PSV dug their heels in, decided that they weren’t going to accept either offer and also made it clear that there were no grounds for negotiation on that they were not going to have a change of heart they’re going to keep him, which they have.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ deadline day issues…
Gakpo would have likely been the dream signing for Leeds and once again, prove that the board did in fact have money to spend on attacking players, which may well frustrate fans further as to why no moves were made until the final few hours of the window.
However, it wasn’t just the disappointment of missing out on Gakpo that Leeds had to deal with yesterday, they also saw Bamba Dieng make a last-minute decision to ditch a move to Elland Road in favour of staying in Ligue 1 with Nice, something that hasn’t ended up happening yet due to him initially failing his medical.
Leeds ended the window having lost James to Fulham on loan and his replacement is Wilfried Gnonto who’s just 18 years old and has never played outside of the top division in Switzerland, although he is already an Italian international.