‘De Paul to Leeds?’ – Udinese sporting director opens up on exciting big-money transfer
Sky Sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has posted a message from Udinese sporting director Pierpaolo Marino, who has opened up on the Leeds United move for Rodrigo De Paul.
With Leeds firmly in the hunt to sign the midfielder, the sticking point is now the price.
Marino was quoted as saying, “De Paul to Leeds? They’ve not matched the €35m price tag at the moment… so I hope he can stay.”
Positive for Leeds
This might not be the ultra-positive news that Leeds fans were hoping for but it’s not an outright rejection, such as the one he went on to post about Okaka moving to Fenerbahce – “this one is fake news. There’s no chance.”
We actually see it as a big positive.
Udinese have opened the door to the exciting deal being done and Leeds are the only club mentioned. The price is there now and if Leeds want De Paul, they might have to pay the full £32.1m asking price.
That’s slightly less than some reports which had his valuation at £35m.
However, it seems to be more than Leeds want to pay at the moment.
This could be a game that goes on until the transfer deadline, which is a little over two weeks away.
We think that Udinese might be willing to go lower. De Paul has made it clear, through deleted social media posts, that he wants to join Leeds.
Udinese will surely have to take that into account when they approach the transfer deadline and De Paul is still unsold.
But, there are plenty of Leeds fans who would like to see Andrea Radrizzani pay Udinese their money now.
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