Mighty Leeds Weblog

Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch insists the club were agonisingly close to signing Cody Gakpo from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven this summer Joe Donnohue The American says Leeds were ‘99.9 per cent’ of the way towards signing Cody Gakpo from PSV this summer, revealing that he had spoken to the player before a move failed to materialise on transfer deadline day. Four months on, Gakpo has begun the Eredivisie season tremendously and has managed to score in each of the Netherlands’ three group stage matches at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This has led Marsch to state that Gakpo is now out of Leeds’ transfer price range with less than a month to go until the January window, in which club chairman Andrea Radrizzani stated the club would endeavour to revive a deal for the Dutch international forward. "We will continue to work on Gapko. Now it s [sic] time to focus on the pitch and support our new project and the great job Jesse and the staff are doing,” Radrizanni tweeted on Sep...

All was not well with Leeds United come 5pm on Saturday evening. By Graham Smyth A dramatic transfer deadline week briefly threatened to deliver a huge star in the form of Cody Gakpo and then a promising-sounding striker in Bamba Dieng, before merely bringing forward the signing of 18-year-old prospect Willy Gnonto. Everyone at Leeds was pleased to get Gnonto confirmed, although as Jesse Marsch packed him back off to Zurich to collect his things instead of making him part of the weekend plans for Brentford, it was clear that the Italy international is not yet ready to make an Premier League impact. The departure of Daniel James, on loan, was easy to understand from the player's point of view given the threat to his game time, although Jesse Marsch would later intimate that the winger rather wanted to stick around, and less so from a club point of view. It may be the case that end product has proved a struggle for James and there are those in the squad now well ahead of hi...

DEADLINE Written by: Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman The reporting by Rik Elfrink in the Eindhovens Dagblad newspaper is vivid. It features Leeds’ director of football Victor Orta, flying in from Yorkshire to watch Cody Gakpo score a farewell hat-trick for PSV and gazump Southampton’s deal with a bid for him from Leeds United. Personal terms had been discussed with the player, and he was happy with the offer. PSV’s management, seeking a big sale this season to help them meet cost controls in the Eredivisie, were happy about Southampton’s €40m bid being replaced by United’s €43m. Now, sometime after midnight in the boardroom at the Philips Stadion, Orta was hearing bad news. Gakpo was changing his mind. He had decided more first team football and more hat-tricks for PSV were his best way of getting a place at the World Cup in November. He was staying in Eindhoven. “This must have something to do with Louis van Gaal,” Orta shouted [van Gaal is the Netherlands’ national team manager], a...

It was a day of mixed emotions at Elland Road as the summer transfer window came to a close. By Mark Carruthers A hectic summer transfer window came to an end on Thursday night as Leeds United reflected on a productive few months. The likes of Jesse Marsch and Victor Orta have worked relentlessly to improve the Whites squad in a bid to build on the impressive work undertaken by the former RB Leipzig manager. The major headlines saw key duo Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha tempted away by respective offers from Manchester City and Barcelona. But the reported £97million received through their sales has been put to good use as eight new faces were added to Marsch’s squad. Midfielders Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Marc Roca and Darko Gyabi came in at a cost of around £73million and a free transfer move for Joel Robles will provide competition for Illian Meslier. Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen was brought in from RB Salzburg and there was an eleventh hour move for FC Zurich’s ...

LEEDS are interested in signing PSV forward Cody Gakpo this summer. By CHARLIE PARKER-TURNER Leeds United have reportedly been informed that they will not be able to sign Cody Gakpo from PSV this summer, with the Eredivisie outfit not listening to offers for the player. Southampton and Everton have also been linked with the forward this summer. It was reported that the Whites sporting director Victor Orta flew out to Eindhoven on Wednesday night in order to negotiate for Gakpo. However, it has been revealed that the businessman boarded his flight back to England alone. The Athletic report that PSV have stood firm and said that they will not be selling their star prospect, and instead would like the player to pen a new deal with the club. Gakpo’s current contract expired in 2026, though PSV are set to make the 23-year-old a more ‘lucrative’ offer. Orta will now return to Leeds and have to quickly turn his attention to alternatives on deadline day, with another forward high on ...