PSV Eindhoven star Cody Gakpo has admitted that he got a little confused about his future when Leeds United came calling for him over the summer.
Every club has that player they almost signed but they went on to become a star elsewhere.
Sadly for Leeds, it looks like Gakpo is going to be their ‘nearly’ man for the coming years.
The Whites were pushing to sign Gakpo before the summer deadline but with a deal close, the plug was pulled and Gakpo stayed at PSV.
Fast forward a few months and Gakpo is one of the hottest properties in Europe and Leeds look set to miss out to a perceivably bigger club.
Cody Gakpo opens up on Leeds situation
Gakpo has been ridiculous for PSV this season, racking up 13 goals and 17 assists in just 24 games for PSV across all competitions.
Then you look at the World Cup and Gakpo has scored three times in four outings for the Netherlands, proving his quality on the big stage.
It now looks like Gakpo is heading elsewhere after Leeds came oh so close.
Victor Orta thought he had a deal done for Gakpo before the summer deadline.
Orta travelled to the Netherlands according to The Athletic, believing that Gakpo would be travelling back to England alongside him.
To come so close and miss out is painful and other Premier League clubs are now ready to make their moves.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur… take your pick, the Premier League’s top clubs are all swarming around Gakpo.
Leeds likely just can’t compete with those clubs and Gakpo has commented on the Whites making a move for him.
Speaking to NRC in the Netherlands, Gakpo admitted that the summer window was really tough for him because of the speculation surrounding him.
Gakpo was thinking about a move to Manchester United but that didn’t materialise and he started to have doubts about his future and leaving PSV.
Gakpo added that he was unsure about going to Leeds and he is now trying to be patient about his future, trying not to worry about Manchester United again.
“That was a tough period,” said Gakpo. “I learned from that. I’m going to do it differently. What comes, that comes. Suppose you want to go from RKC to PSV, but that club is not coming. Then you can panic.”
“I thought about Manchester United, but when that didn’t happen, I didn’t know anymore. And I started to doubt. Leeds United did come. Should I go there? Now I wait for everything. I haven’t heard from Manchester United yet. When they come, I’ll think about it. I also seek the help of God in these decisions,” he added.
Missing out on Gakpo hurts Leeds enough as it is, but seeing him go to bitter rivals Manchester United would simply add salt to a rather fresh wound.
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