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Report: Agent of Rodrigo De Paul in Italy and waiting for 'signal' for last-minute deal
Leeds United will be on the hunt for a creative midfielder after their move for Michael Cuisance broke down on Thursday night.
The obvious target would be Udinese’s Rodrigo De Paul, a player that Leeds have been linked to strongly over the summer.
Journalist Nicolo Schira has claimed that De Paul’s agent is ready and waiting for a late move.
In a report in ViolaNews, part of the La Gazzetta dello Sport network, Schira said that De Paul’s agent has been in Italy for the past 48 hours and “is waiting for signals for a last-minute transfer”.
However, he reiterated that Udinese won’t drop from their asking price of £31.8m.
That was the message that came from Udinese sporting director Pierpaolo Marino who didn’t rule out a move to Leeds but confirmed they hadn’t reached their valuation of the player yet.
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Udinese sport director Marino: “De Paul to Leeds? They’ve not matched €35m price tag at the moment… so I hope he can stay. Okaka is not joining Fenerbahçe, this one is a fake news. There’s no chance”. ⚪️ #LUFC #Fenerbahce #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 22, 2020
Leeds fans want De Paul but…
There are plenty of Leeds fans calling for De Paul to be signed after the deal for Cuisance fell through.
https://twitter.com/BigJimmy_V/status/1311829280322711552
That would be highly ironic if what Graham Smyth, YEP journalist, said is true – that the interest in De Paul was actually a smokescreen used to get a deal for Cuisance through.
The big issue here is price. At £31.8m, De Paul is a lot more expensive than Cuisance, and despite hopes that Udinese would drop nearer the end of the window, they’ve shown no signs of doing this and have started the midfielder in both Serie A games so far this season.
De Paul would be an obvious choice. He can play the Pablo Hernandez position but also offers versatility across a number of other positions.
This is his heatmap and it shows that he would fit the bill with Leeds looking for a number 10/winger. [WyScout]
Is the price tag too much? Leeds have spent around £80m already and a deal for De Paul at the asking price would take them over the £110m mark.
That’s a lot of money but with De Paul, Leeds would be getting a player who’s match fit and ready to go.
In other Leeds United news, Reliable journalist delivers intriguing update over major Leeds transfer after late drama