Udinese talisman Rodrigo de Paul could end up at Paris Saint-Germain after Leeds United failed to meet his £35 million price-tag, as reported by Calciomercato.
Promotion to the Premier League might have given the Yorkshire giants access to the kind of riches they could have only dreamed of when rolling around in the mud and thistles of the Championship.
But despite breaking their transfer record to sign Rodrigo Moreno, while paying big to bring in Raphinha, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, £35 million for De Paul was still a bit rich for the top-flight newcomers (the Mirror).
It is no secret that the fleet-footed Argentine wanted to join compatriot Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road. He made that clear with a now-infamous, three-letter social media post.
But with the pandemic taking a sledgehammer to the transfer market as we know it, neither Leeds nor any of his many other admirers were willing to pay the fee Udinese wanted for De Paul.
Whether things will be different in 2021 remains to be seen.
Calciomercato report that PSG are interested in the 26-year-old schemer.
For all the quality in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, the Parisiens are strangely lacking in the creative midfield department, with the deep-lying Marco Verratti being trailed in a more advanced role recently.
PSG have been hit harder than most by football’s ongoing financial crisis, however. The Ligue 1 giants would probably have to raise funds via player sales in order to fund a deal for a man Udinese are determined to keep – or sell for an eye-watering fee.
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