Leeds United and Igor Paixão — inside the €35m pursuit, new signing's midnight call and what next — YEP 30/7/25
By Graham Smyth
The YEP has been given the inside story of Leeds United’s
pursuit of Feyenoord winger Igor Paixão and the lengths they went to for a deal
that was scuppered by Marseille.
Leeds United's chairman, managing director, sporting
director, manager and a brand new signing all spent time on the phone to Igor
Paixão to try and get a €35m deal done before the player opted for Marseille.
Club sources have revealed that although the Whites received
email confirmation that Feyenoord had agreed to the terms and their salary
offer was agreeable to Paixão's camp, sporting director Adam Underwood never
felt like a deal was done and rated their chances at 50 to 60 per cent. But the
situation was a far cry from the landscape that greeted Leeds two months ago.
The YEP understands that at the outset of the transfer
window Paixão was not available to Leeds because of his wage demands and price
tag a reluctant Feyenoord would attach to their star winger. But having watched
and waited as the demands came down to an achievable level, Leeds were suddenly
presented with what they felt was an opportunity to get one of their 'stretch'
targets. Leeds' involvement played out over the course of around nine days.
Underwood and head of recruitment Alex Davies presented to the player's camp
and then the club surpassed Marseille with their first offer, before upping it
to a deal that would have been worth a total of €35m with what they felt were
achievable add-ons included. Feyenoord confirmed in an email on Saturday, just
prior to half-time in the game against Paderborn, that they would accept Leeds'
improved offer.
The sticking point at that stage was their knowledge that
Paixão was still sold on the idea of playing Champions League football in the
south of France. And both clubs went to the phone lines to try and sway him
towards a final decision. For Leeds, Adam Underwood, managing director Evans
and chairman Paraag Marathe went on a call with the Brazilian. Underwood, Evans
and Davies talked to the agents. Daniel Farke also spoke to the target. And
close to midnight, Paixão's compatriot Lucas Perri, whose own move to Leeds was
only announced on Saturday evening, spent an hour chatting to him on the phone
to try and help sell the move. For Marseille, Roberto De Zerbi took the
opportunity to speak with Paixão and reiterate the benefits of a project that
had already impressed the player and his father.
On Sunday it felt like Leeds had done all they could and it
was down to Paixão to make up his mind once and for all. Sources in Holland
continued to be sceptical that Marseille could match Leeds. But by Monday
things had gone quiet and their confidence of getting a yes diminished
entirely. By the early evening reports in France emerged saying Marseille had
got their man. Leeds believe the Ligue 1 side finally upped their offer from an
initial bid of €23m plus €7m in add-ons to something closer to what the Premier
League side were offering. Earlier this week the player's camp told the YEP
that it had been a 'very difficult' personal and family decision, but Champions
League football played a big part in his thinking. Leeds also believe that
their newly-promoted status and the fortunes of recent Premier League new boys
entered the minds of the Paixão camp.
What’s next for Leeds?
Paixão has been described by club sources as a 'unique
opportunity' and a 'perfect fit' because of his age, relative experience and
ability to create and take his own goalscoring opportunities. This was a player
Leeds felt was worth waiting two months for a chance to get to the table and
negotiate but with a little over a month left in the window their efforts have
come to nought and the question being asked of them is simply 'what's next?'
On that front Leeds insist they will not be reactive or let
emotions lead them to jump straight on the next available winger. They have
gone back to their process of discussing profiles, checking the availability of
targets on whom they have done their homework and putting names to Farke.
There will be an inevitable challenge when it comes to deals
because they have shown their hand to the market in terms of what they would be
willing to spend for a difference-making winger. But as they showed with Habib
Diarra they are determined to stick to their valuations of players. They're
willing to wait for other high priority options to become available and have
refuted suggestions that they have been unable to get stretch targets over the
line, citing Anton Stach as a player who eventually turned down a Champions
League opportunity to come to Leeds after a long period of deliberations. Similarly,
Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jaka Bijol could have signed for clubs looking forward
to elite European competition this season.
It's an inherent risk when a club, in the words of an
insider 'takes a swing' for an ambitious target but comes up short for reasons
largely beyond their control. Time and effort has gone into a deal that did not
happen. Leeds are still planning to take swings, however, and pre-window
research that involved talking to the likes of Brighton and Red Bull identified
one of the secrets to good recruitment as the ability to move quickly and seal
deals. It did not pay off in this case, but perhaps it will with another
target.
The rumour mill wasted no time in cranking back up to full
speed in the wake of Paixão's decision. Names have been falling out of the sky
like rain as agents spy an opportunity to drag their client into the noise
around Elland Road and their pursuit of a winger. The YEP understands that
reports suggesting they have gone straight after Fiorentina's Riccardo Sottil
and Ajax attacker Mika Godts have been wide of the mark. At the time of writing
there is not another winger primed to fly into Leeds Bradford Airport and sign
a deal.
Leeds say their thinking all along has been to give the
entire spine of the side a stronger look and believe they have done that with
the additions at goalkeeper, centre-back and central midfield. They still want
a number 9. At left wing they say it only makes sense to sign a player who
could keep the likes of Willy Gnonto, Largie Ramazani and Dan James on the
bench. And whether or not it meets with the approval of the fanbase Jack
Harrison, at present, is still a Leeds player. The difficulty in selling the
current quartet of wingers to supporters as the final options that Farke will
take into the Premier League season is obvious, because the idea of this
particular Brazilian has raised expectations. Harrison's numbers last season,
Farke's reluctance to give Ramazani more minutes, James' previous struggles
with end product at this level and the fact that Leeds' best left winger last
season is no longer at the club point to an obvious vacancy that should be
filled.