Leeds United, Southampton and the ‘hectic’ chase for Cody Gakpo - The Athletic 2/9/22

Dan Sheldon, Phil Hay and more

In the 51st minute of PSV Eindhoven’s 7-1 win at home to FC Volendam on Wednesday night, Cody Gakpo wheeled away to celebrate his hat-trick.

It came after the 23-year-old had been the subject of intense interest from Leeds United and Southampton, with both eager to sign the forward before the transfer window closed. Earlier this summer, it was Manchester United he was linked with, while Nottingham Forest and Everton have also watched with interest.

Twelve minutes after he scored his third goal, Gakpo was taken off by PSV manager Ruud van Nistelrooy and began to applaud the supporters inside the Philips Stadion.

Was this a goodbye or mutual adulation?

Gakpo had trained on Wednesday morning and PSV were minded to leave him out of their starting XI if it looked as though he was going to be leaving the club.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Southampton were described as his most serious option by a source close to PSV. But by the end of the night, the player was set on a move to Leeds, who offered a higher fee, more lucrative personal terms and had a plane waiting to whisk him away to Yorkshire.

What nobody countenanced, though, was for Louis van Gaal, the Netherlands manager and former Manchester United boss, to intervene on Wednesday night and talk Gakpo out of a switch to England.

Van Gaal is said to have warned him about the likely negative impact on his playing minutes should he join a Premier League club, before reminding him there is a World Cup in November and he wants his players featuring regularly for their teams.

Even before the 71-year-old’s intervention, Gakpo’s involvement on Wednesday night cast doubt on him being sold. After all, if you were serious about selling a multi-million pound asset, would you risk playing him one day before the window closes?

Southampton had been working on a deal to sign Gakpo throughout the summer and were willing to surpass their transfer record — £20million ($23.1m) for Danny Ings from Liverpool in 2019 — to do it.

They had been given cause for cautious optimism during negotiations, but would not allow themselves to become complacent and an element of doubt remained as to whether it could be completed.

Manchester United were also admirers of the young striker and were in a position to better any offer Southampton made to PSV or the player, as well as being able to provide European football, albeit in the Europa League.

Gakpo and Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager, share the same agency and it was felt that relationship could work in the club’s favour if they pushed to get a deal over the line.

At the time of United’s interest, however, PSV set a €50million (£43.3m; $49.8m) asking price.

Gakpo was specifically asked about United’s interest in him after PSV’s emphatic 6-1 win — he scored once and created another two goals — over Excelsior on Sunday.

“It’s going to be hectic, I think,” he said. “There is interest, but I have always said that the whole picture has to be right. It’s a puzzle. I have to see which puzzle is the most correct.

“But there are also other options. United is a serious option. I can hear it all.”

United considered making a move for Gakpo but instead decided to pursue Ajax’s Antony, with the Brazilian winger joining for an initial €95million, which could rise to €100m if potential add-ons are met.

This, however, proved to be a double-edged sword for the clubs still keen on Gakpo.

PSV dropped their asking price but found themselves under pressure from their supporters to sell Gakpo for an extortionate fee, with hopes inflated by how much United paid for Antony and how late in the window that deal was confirmed.

Nottingham Forest were also in the hunt to sign Gakpo — with Leeds suspecting early on in the window that it would be Steve Cooper’s side who would ultimately win the race for his signature. But Forest decided to move on to other targets after their £21million offer was turned down by PSV.

Everton monitored the Dutchman’s situation throughout the summer but were under the impression he was not for sale to begin with. Once PSV’s stance changed, the Merseyside club were viewed as a good option.

Discussions took place but it did not materialise into anything concrete and Everton continued pursuing other targets on their long list of forwards this summer. Due to the numbers involved being so high, any deal that would have seen Gakpo join Everton would have been contingent on Anthony Gordon leaving the club.

It is understood Gakpo was open to the idea of joining Everton at the time of their interest and there was a feeling of disappointment on his side that a deal was unable to be struck between the two clubs.

This week, it became evident that only Southampton and Leeds remained in the race to sign Gakpo.

Following Southampton’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Tuesday night, it became clear the club had met PSV’s valuation and that player terms were not going to be an issue.

The final offer made by Southampton is understood to have totalled more than £30million including add-ons. But then Leeds showed their hand.

Gakpo had been of interest to Leeds for a while, certainly since the start of the summer, but the priority targets for them up front were Luis Sinisterra and Charles De Ketelaere. Up until the penultimate day of the window, there was no formal offer made to PSV for Gakpo.

The signing of Sinisterra, a £20million purchase from Feyenoord, was completed without any difficulty at the start of July but De Ketelaere proved more elusive.

Leeds agreed a £34million fee with Club Bruges and courted the player directly, hoping De Ketelaere would be seduced by their proposal and their plan to help develop him, but the forward’s preference was to join AC Milan.

Once Milan thrashed out an agreement with Bruges, negotiating terms after weeks of wrangling, Leeds resigned themselves to defeat.

From there on it appeared the club had drawn a line under their transfer business, too.

No subsequent offers were submitted for first-team targets until this week, when — in the aftermath of Rodrigo suffering a dislocated shoulder against Everton — an approach was made for Hwang Hee-chan at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Then Gakpo came firmly onto the radar.

Wolves rejected the £17million Leeds were proposing to pay for Hwang. And, while Leeds boss Jesse Marsch was keen on Hwang — a player he had coached at Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig — there was a feeling at board level that Gakpo had the bigger talent, the greater potential and more to offer. Pound for pound, he looked like a far sounder investment.

On Wednesday, Victor Orta, Leeds’ director of football, boarded a private jet for Eindhoven, attending PSV’s Eredivisie game against Volendam. The plan was to talk PSV into a deal after full-time.

Leeds were under the impression that Southampton had already met PSV’s asking price for Gakpo or had gone very close to it. They went in with a first bid which exceeded Southampton’s offer, trying to settle the race in their favour.

It quickly became apparent Southampton would not enter into a bidding war and there was a feeling PSV were using the situation to their advantage to show their supporters they were turning down notable bids and standing their ground.

Initially, it appeared PSV were ready to sell — and Leeds felt confident that Gakpo was happy to take the move to Elland Road.

Orta’s plane was on the tarmac and prepared to fly Gakpo to England for a medical on Thursday morning, along with family members and associates. But in the hours after PSV’s win over Volendam, the talks collapsed.

PSV communicated the message that Gakpo was staying and all bids were being rejected, leaving Southampton and Leeds licking their wounds after a tense few hours.

A second proposal tabled by Leeds was knocked back and PSV pushed ahead with efforts to tie Gakpo to a new contract, delaying his exit until a future window.

Discussing the transfer window and his possible moves, Gakpo said: “Last week I thought I would go to Manchester and then you may have to choose another club in a week. That’s not nice for me and PSV, it feels a bit rushed. Ultimately, the choice fell on PSV.”

Orta flew back from the Netherlands early on Thursday morning, alone and with the deadline looming. Leeds resolved to go back for him in January, provided his valuation had not soared beyond their reach by then.