Leeds United must turn attention to Noah Okafor after Cody Gakpo snub
Leeds United have missed the chance to sign Cody Gakpo despite the deal not being dead according to former Eurosport journalist Dean Jones.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed (10 October) the Dutch winger was now not interested in a move to Elland Road after coming close to a move to Yorkshire in the summer.
It’s understood a move for the 23-year-old is not completely dead in the water, with Victor Orta still likely to be on the case. However, Jones has suggested the chance to sign Gakpo has now been and gone.
“This is a player who deserves to be looked at by clubs that are chasing titles, chasing trophies,” Jones told GIVEMESPORT (13 October).
“He is a serious player. He’s also going to the World Cup and I expect him to have a good tournament too. He’s started to make an impact in that Netherlands team. I personally think that the chance for Leeds to sign him has passed by and they’ll have to look elsewhere now.”
Leeds should instead focus all their attention on RB Salzburg attacker Noah Okafor, who has had an electric start to the season for the Austrian club.
Calciomercato report (6 October) that Leeds are set to battle AC Milan for the 22-year-old who has eight goals in 15 appearances in the 2022/23 season.
Missing out on Gakpo was always going to happen after his phenomenal start to the campaign and Leeds’ poor run of form. Okafor is highly-rated but hasn’t gained as much attention as Gakpo of late and could still be within the Whites’ grasp.
If Marsch can land another attack-minded player along with a left-back in January, Leeds will have a fairly well-balanced squad to attack the second half of the campaign with.
In other Leeds United news, a major Elland Road exit now looks to be off amid a high profile pursuit in the Premier League.