Leeds given hope in race for "unpredictable" £35m target, it'd be an "enormous" coup - opinion

Leeds United remain in with a chance of bringing Cody Gakpo to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to a report by Dutch media outlet ED, who suggest that, with both Leeds and Nottingham Forest are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the PSV Eindhoven winger ahead of launching a potential move, the Premier League duo could still have a chance to seal a £35m deal for the 23-year-old in the coming weeks.

The report goes on to state that, should PSV fail in their attempts to qualify for the Champions League – with the Eredivisie side set to face Glasgow Rangers in a play-off for a spot in the group stage of the competition after defeating AS Monaco 4-3 on aggregate in the third qualifying round – the Netherlands international is more likely to leave the club this summer.

Considering just how impressive Gakpo was for PSV last season, in addition to the fact that the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been linked with a move for the 23-year-old this summer, should Orta manage to get a deal over the line for the Dutch attacker, it would certainly be an enormous coup for the Whites.

Indeed, over his 27 Eredivisie appearances in 2021/22, the £27m-rated forward was in breathtaking form for Roger Schmidt’s side, scoring 12 goals, providing 13 assists and creating 11 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 3.0 shots, making 2.6 key passes and completing 2.9 dribbles per game.

For context, all of those statistics would top the tree at Leeds, with the recently departed Raphinha managing 2.5 shots, 1.9 key passes and 1.8 dribbles per match, numbers that eclipsed everyone else at Elland Road in 2021/22.

The above returns saw the £7.4k-per-week Gakpo average