Leeds United are no longer in the race for Cody Gakpo ahead of the upcoming January transfer window, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer guru has been speaking on his Here We Go podcast to discuss the future of the Dutch winger with the World Cup coming up.
Jesse Marsch’s side were believed to be pushing over the summer transfer window to bring in the 23-year-old from PSV Eindhoven.
It is now believed the likes of Manchester United are interested in the Dutchman who was advised by his national side manager, Louis van Gaal, to remain at PSV in the summer.
But with the January window now looming, Romano believes the race to bring in the winger is beyond Leeds with much bigger clubs expected to propose offers for Gakpo:
(9:00) “But now for Gakpo there is a crazy race. It’s no more for Leeds, it’s no more for Southampton. They would love to go for Gakpo. But now the level is different.”
TIF Thoughts on Romano’s comments…
This will no doubt come as a huge blow for Andrea Radrizzani who stated his desire to continue to work on a deal for Gakpo after missing out on him back in the summer transfer window.
It is perhaps not too surprising to hear Leeds will be unable to compete in the race for Gakpo this January with the Dutchman kicking on once again this season.
Do you expect many signings in January?
Yes
No
In just 23 appearances across all competitions this season, Gakpo has already provided 30 goal involvements with 21 of those coming in just 13 Eredivisie games (via Transfermarkt).
Although Leeds fans may be disappointed to hear Romano’s comments, we think they will be hopeful the likes of Victor Orta do not waste time in January pursuing Gakpo and focus on more realistic targets to avoid a repeat of the previous January window.