'Finalising paperwork...' - Journalist says long-term Orta target has 'agreed' to join Leeds

Leeds United correspondent Graham Smyth has provided an update on the club’s pursuit of Manchester City midfielder Darko Gyabi.

Victor Orta has been a long-term admirer of the 18-year-old and made previous enquiries regarding his availability, which were turned down.

However, Leeds appear to have made their move after City had a £42m offer for Kalvin Phillips accepted last month. The Athletic claimed when the news broke on the 26-year-old that Leeds were working on a separate £5m deal for Gyabi, who was due to undergo a medical on Friday.

Smyth shared a Q&A for The Yorkshire Evening Post on Saturday, answering numerous Leeds-related topics.

One fan asked the journalist about the hold-up over an announcement for Gyabi. Smyth said that ‘finalising paperwork’ could be a reason for the delay, but he reassured the supporter that ‘everything is agreed’ and a medical has been passed.

The reporter commented:

“Finalising paperwork, at a guess, or simply following the convention of announcing on a Monday rather than on a weekend, but he had his medical and passed it. Everything is agreed and Darko Gyabi will become a Leeds United player. Likely to be Monday at this rate.”

It looks as if Gyabi could be announced as a Leeds United player in the next 24 hours, and you’d expect that Jesse Marsch would want to see the midfielder in the under-23s initially.

The 18-year-old will leave Manchester without a senior appearance to his name for City, although he will arrive in Yorkshire with an impressive youth record.

Gyabi contributed to 15 goals in 39 appearances for City’s under-18s and under-23s, so another impressive campaign at youth level could see him break into Marsch’s first-team plans in the foreseeable future.

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