Leeds United narrowly missed Cody Gakpo, now worth more than Vinicius Junior | OneFootball

Leeds United came within touching distance of Cody Gakpo in 2022, a near miss that looks starker given he is now valued at €100.3m, above Vinicius Junior’s €90.3m.

“In the summer of 2022, (Manchester) United went for Antony. I was like, What should I do? At this point I could go to Leeds, Southampton, or I could stay at PSV… I said, If I score only one time, I’ll go to Southampton…. If I score two times, I’ll go to Leeds…. If I score three times, I’ll stay.” He told The Players’ Tribune in January 2025.

“The next day we played, and I scored twice... but after the game, they gave me the goal. I scored three, so my fate changed. I stayed at PSV.”

Jesse Marsch later said the agreement was 99.9 percent complete before that decisive third goal.

The episode sits alongside other near misses for Leeds. Victor Orta did not find £4m to sign Erling Haaland from Molde before his rise at RB Salzburg. He has 149 goals in 172 for Manchester City so far.

Leeds also came close to Josko Gvardiol at Dinamo Zagreb before he moved through the Red Bull pathway to Manchester City. They failed to recruit a proper alternative to Gakpo and were relegated at the end of 2022/23.

Source: Leedsunited.news