Manchester United have faced a blow in pursuit of Cody Gakpo as Leeds United have agreed personal terms him.
According to a report by Daily Mirror, Leeds have managed to finalise personal terms with Cody Gakpo, who also happens to be a Manchester United target.
Gakpo was the subject of interest from Manchester United, and Erik ten Hag had tried to lure him to Old Trafford in the summer. But the arrival of Antony seemed to have blocked the move, and the Red Devils pulled the plug on the transfer due to a fund crunch.
Leeds were adamant about adding the Dutch international to their squad and made every possible arrangement to land the 23-year-old on the deadline day. But former PSV Eindhoven technical director John de Jong rejected all the advances, and the Dutchman remained at the club.
Later, it emerged that the Dutch giants were keen to cash in on Gakpo as their loss in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers hurt their cash flow, and they wanted to balance their financial situation.
Gakpo will be made available again, and a bid in the region of £30 million should be enough to engineer a move. Manchester United sounded out PSV over the possibility of a deal but refused to meet their £86 million demand, which was absurd then.
Leeds have not invested the entire money they got from Raphinha’s sale to Barcelona and might want to use that to fund this transfer. A deadline day move was foiled, but the Whites are aware of the interest Gakpo has generated and won’t repeat their mistakes. So agreeing to personal terms with Gakpo is a big step in the right direction.
Manchester United are still in the market for an attacking reinforcement and could come back in January with a better offer to match Leeds’s intent. Having experienced the Eredivisie pretty closely, ten Hag knows what he will get in terms of quality. And Gakpo’s imminent future could be hanging over a thread.
