Huddersfield Town loaned Van La Parra to Championship hopefuls Boro – after Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United missed out.
For the second time this season, Leeds United have missed out on a Dutch winger to a Championship rival.
Voetbal International reported in August that Leeds had matched Derby County’s £2.75 million bid for Florian Jozefzoon, only for the former Brentford man to choose Pride Park over Elland Road.
And history has just repeated itself.
Rajiv Van La Parra completed his move to Middlesbrough this week, heading to the Riverside on loan from Huddersfield Town. And, speaking to EFL Voetbal, Van La Parra has admitted that Leeds made an approach too – and explains why he won’t be playing a part in Marcelo Bielsa’s promotion bid.
“I then indicated that I wanted to go to a club where I could go for minutes,” the one-time Wolves forward said.
“Middlesbrough and Leeds United immediately reported to my agent. Middlesbrough’s (interest) was more concrete than Leeds.
“They did everything to get me in. I immediately got a good feeling about it.”
Whether Leeds were just showing an interest in Van La Parra while Boro went all out for his signature is just one potential hypothesis about why The Whites didn’t get their man, though it seems that they were hardly fighting tooth and nail for his signature.
And with Middlesbrough still in the play-off picture, battling Leeds for a place in the Premier League, it remains to be seen how Van La Parra’s move will impact the promotion race.
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