Leeds United: Phil Hay drops worrying Cody Gakpo transfer claim

Phil Hay has admitted that he’s worried about Leeds United’s future pursuit of Cody Gakpo after missing out on the winger last week.

It was a hectic and memorable deadline day for Leeds, albeit for the wrong reasons, as they missed out on the signing of Gakpo despite lodging a bid they thought was going to be accepted by PSV given it was greater than the player’s valuation, according to Hay.

However, Andrea Radrizzani later tweeted that the club would continue to work on Gakpo after missing out on him this summer, but that may seem easier said than done.

Hay believes that if Gakpo thrives this season and at the World Cup, the Dutchman may end up out of Leeds’ reach, as he spoke about on The Phil Hay Show.

He said: “If Gakpo goes to the World Cup, if Gakpo has a good World Cup, if he has a good domestic season with PSV, his value’s going to increase; his value’s going to go up. And I think he will move fairly rapidly into the Champions League bracket.

“So I would question, quite honestly, whether beyond this window Leeds have much chance of signing him at all. I’m not sure how realistic that is.

“That’s not to say that they can’t, but something tells me that if they were going to, further beyond this window that’s just gone, then they’re going to have to seriously, seriously push the boat out.”

TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ interest in Gakpo…

Given how superb Gakpo was across all competitions for PSV last season, it would have been an astute acquisition from Leeds on deadline day. However, he may well have thought about his World Cup chances diminishing if he didn’t adapt to the Premier League very well, while his options could be more open next summer if he gets another good campaign under his belt.

Victor Orta will have been left very disappointed to have not landed Gakpo, having flown over to his native country for talks in hope of striking up a deal, which obviously didn’t happen and has potentially left them short of attacking options, having loaned out Daniel James to Fulham – though he did eventually seal a deal for striker Wilfried Gnonto.

Leeds may well go on to rue their missed opportunity of luring Gakpo to Elland Road, as if he impresses once again in the Eredivisie and in the Europa League, clubs with more money and pedigree will surely be sniffing around and look to be more attractive moves for the Dutch winger, so we agree with Hay’s concerns.