Wanted Zaniolo in winter
After 30 points for PSV Eindhoven and a very strong World Cup with the Netherlands, Cody Gakpo switched to Liverpool in January for a basic fee of 42 million euros. The 23-year-old striker had already emphasized in the months before that he would actually have liked to come to the Premier League in the summer – Manchester United in particular were aggressively campaigning for the left winger. However, the deal with the “Red Devils” fell through a week before the transfer deadline, which is why Leeds United got involved in courting Gakpo. That was confirmed by Noch Whites owner Andrea Radrizzani.
“We came very close to signing Cody Gakpo. Everything was settled on Deadline Day in August, including with PSV,” said the 48-year-old Italian Podcast of his new employer “DAZN”. As is well known, however, this transfer did not come about for the Dutchman either – because his national coach at the time, Louis van Gaal, stepped in and gave him advice. Radrizzani: “Van Gaal called him and said to wait until after the World Cup.”
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Shortly after negotiations with Man United broke down, “I had to make a choice between going to Leeds or Southampton. I ended up staying, but it was a stressful time,” Gakpo himself told The Times newspaper in October. The fact that United, who decided to buy Ajax’ Antony (23) for 95 million euros, didn’t work out, was “a shame for me and my development”. “And because Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also for PSV because a player’s transfer to Manchester United is a good thing for the club.”
The then Leeds coach Jesse Marsch had also commented on the hoped-for deal with Gakpo in early December, said im Men in Blazers Podcast then: “We were so close to signing him in the summer. It was so close. And now, of course, it’s disappointing. Our sports director (Victor Orta; editor’s note) was in Holland and met with the family. They had agreed on everything. I mean we were 99.9 percent through.”
After that, Marsch said, Gakpo may have outgrown Leeds’ budget. Since the summer of 2022, the most expensive signing in the club’s history has been US national player Brenden Aaronson (22), who came from Salzburg for EUR 32.84 million – a sum that was also due to the sale of players such as Raphinha (26; Barcelona) and Kalvin Phillips ( 27; Man City) for a total of 107 million euros.
Leeds owner Radrizzani on interest in Zaniolo and Chiesa
Radrizzani also commented in detail on other personal details. The fact that the Milan native has been so open about transfer negotiations could also have something to do with the fact that he is about to sell his majority stake in Leeds. The previous minority investor “The 49ers Enterprises”, which is also behind the NFL franchise of the same name, is to take over the shares. The US company initially took a 10 percent stake in the West Yorkshire club in 2018 and has since increased its stake to 44 percent to date. Radrizzani has been part of the board at DAZN since mid-February after the sports streaming service announced the takeover of its broadcasting group “Eleven Sports”, which includes the four top European leagues and the Champions League in countries such as Japan, Taiwan and Poland , Belgium or Portugal shows.
From Germany & Austria: Leeds transfers since promotion 2020
Radrizzani confirmed talks with AS Roma about an exchange transfer for offensive player Nicolò Zaniolo (23), who ultimately went to Galatasaray after a number of failed options – he was determined to leave the Giallorossi after a dispute. “We tried to sign Zaniolo through a swap deal. But Roma had already filled all the spots in the squad with non-EU nationals.” It is not known which player Leeds offered to trade. The Romans loaned defender Diego Llorente (29) from the English, but as a Spaniard he doesn’t fall into the category anyway. In addition, sports director Orta brought Federico Chiesa (25), who had just recovered from his cruciate ligament rupture, from Juventus Turin into the game as a possible newcomer – but apparently the idea was not pursued much further.
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