Leeds United: Paris Saint-Germain put off Pascal Struijk January transfer by asking price, could return in coming months
Paris Saint-Germain want to sign Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk as they look to bolster their defence, according to L’Equipe.
Writing on their website (28 December), the French news outlet report that the Parisian side were keen to sign him in January but were put off by the Yorkshire club’s asking price.
That pushed PSG towards signing Brazilian Lucas Beraldo instead in a £17.3m deal, but the file is not closed on Struijk and they could try again “in the coming months”.
“Before reaching an agreement with Sao Paulo for Lucas Beraldo, PSG tried to bring in Dutchman from Leeds, Pascal Struijk,” they wrote.
“This is a file which is not closed but which could now move forward in the coming months. Looking for a left-handed central defender, Paris Saint-Germain had started, via president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, discussions with Leeds to try to bring in Pascal Struijk (24 years old, under contract until 2027).
“Parisian leaders have targeted his profile for several weeks. But the negotiations with Leeds (4th in the Championship) were not easy. The asking price pushed Paris to move forward in parallel on Lucas Beraldo (€20 million) .”
Trouble
There’s no doubt that Leeds are in a strong financial position and will be able to deal with most offers that may come their way during the January window and potentially next summer too.
But there is a big difference between rejecting offers from teams like Brighton and Everton who are building just like we are, and stopping a player moving to a European powerhouse like PSG.
They regularly win trophies, are always competing in the Champions League and have some of the best players in the world so stopping him going would almost be cruel.
However with that said Leeds have to put themselves first and letting him go mid-season would be absolutely criminal, especially as we push for promotion back to the top flight.
If PSG are to return for talks in the summer though we may be powerless to resist them whether we’re in the Premier League or Championship and that is trouble because Struijk is so important.
In other Leeds news, 4 ruled out as senior ace returns in early team news for West Brom clash.