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Louis van Gaal chat causes Leeds United transfer to collapse for Cody Gakpo
Leeds United were denied the chance to sign Cody Gakpo from PSV after a phone call from Louis van Gaal, according to Rik Elfrink.
The former Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, who is now in charge of the Netherlands for a third time, supposedly rang the promising attacker about his World Cup hopes and asked that he stayed in Eindhoven to have the best chance.
That denied Leeds from signing the Dutchman having agreed to pay £37million and agreed personal terms with the 23-year-old overnight.
“At Leeds United, Louis van Gaal is believed to have played a crucial role in preventing the Gakpo deal,” Elfrink said via his personal Twitter account. “The club are totally baffled, wanting to pay 43 million euros and went over Southampton, who wanted to pay 40 million.”
The Whites did eventually bring in a new striker in the form of Italian international Wilfried Gnonto after a chaotic deadline day at Thorp Arch.
Huge blow
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In an ideal world, there is no doubt that Victor Orta would have come back from Eindhoven with Gakpo alongside him in the private jet but instead, he landed alone.
That was just the first setback of a mental 24 hours at Elland Road but once the dust had settled, a new striker was finally signed for the club which hopefully ends years of transfer pain.
Not since Rodrigo, who isn’t an out-and-out striker himself, have the Whites bought someone who is comfortable to play upfront and make an impact on the first team straight away so Gnonto’s arrival is a blessed relief.
And with the Spaniard now ruled out with a shoulder injury for the best part of a month, Jesse Marsch needed a new recruit more than he ever realised but the potential problem has now been resolved.
At just 18 years of age, there is plenty of room to grow for the Italian even though he is already able to lead the line in the Premier League with no problem.
In other Leeds United news, this elite midfielder was due to fly to Leeds for a move to Elland Road before Liverpool hijacked the move.