David Ornstein has claimed that Cody Gakpo won’t be joining Leeds United, despite the two clubs recently holding fresh talks.
Leeds were clearly very hopeful over the summer that they would be able to land Gakpo with Victor Orta ensuring there was a private jet over in Eindhoven to fly the attacker back over to Elland Road and complete a deadline day move.
However, an agreement could not be agreed and Gakpo has gone on to show what Leeds missed out on with 23 goal involvements already to his name this season, which may well have made people think he wouldn’t be interested in a move to Leeds.
However, Ornstein has claimed on the Vibe with Five YouTube channel that Leeds have tried to hold fresh talks with Eindhoven, although they came to nothing.
(15:45) “I revealed in my Monday column that, contrary to some reports that have been around in recent days that Cody Gakpo to Leeds is a move that is not going to be happening as things stand.
“The context of this is that Leeds, once the window shut and they didn’t manage to get that deal over the line, continued negotiations with PSV and Gakpo and it was felt among some around the deal that this was actually going to possibly come to fruition for a January move.
Will Leeds regret not signing Gakpo?
Yes!
No!
“I think the club’s got close to an agreement just recently, but then he went on international duty he scored another goal, he’s one of the most productive attackers in Europe this season statistically and I think with the World Cup looming, his expectations have started to shift somewhat and I think right now he’s targeting a move to a Champions League club.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ pursuit of Gakpo…
In hindsight, Leeds may wish they’d pushed the boat out a bit further in terms of a transfer fee or wage being offered to both PSV and Gakpo over the summer because he would have been a tremendous signing for them.
Gakpo already has nine goals and six assists in the league whereas the top scorer for Leeds is Rodrigo with four goals and all of them came in the first three games of the Premier League season with the Spaniard failing to find the back of the net since.
It won’t have come as much of a surprise to Leeds when they found out Gakpo was now targeting a bigger move to the Champions League given how well he’s been playing in both the Europa Conference League and Europa League over the last two seasons, but never the less, it will be a huge blow for the club.