Leeds United were agonisingly close to completing a deal for Cody Gakpo two years ago…
Leeds United reaped all the rewards from a dynamic and prolific Dutch forward in Crysencio Summerville, but recent Elland Road fortunes may have been so very different if fate had edged slightly in their favour.
Summerville, who joined Leeds for a paltry £1.5m from Feyenoord back in 2020, proved a real hit in West Yorkshire, impressing in the Premier League before lighting up the Championship last season. The winger scored 20 goals, laid on a further nine and was officially named as the division’s Player of the Season, beating off some stern competition in the process.
It was no surprise to see Summerville leave the club following their play-off final defeat to Southampton in May, with West Ham United forking out an initial fee believed to be in excess of £25m. To Leeds’ credit, Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani both represent strong potential replacements for the Hammers forward.
However, had such ill-luck not befallen Leeds, they may never have even found themselves back in the Championship. As hard as it may be to believe now, they were a VAR-awarded goal away from signing Cody Gakpo.
Leeds United were close to Cody Gakpo, PSV Eindhoven capture
Leeds wanted to lure Gakpo to the club in the summer of 2022, following two mightily-impressive seasons with Eredivisie heavyweights PSV. Indeed, the versatile attacker had scored 32 goals and made an additional 19 assists from all competitions within that time, prompting significant Premier League interest.
Both Leeds and Southampton were pursuing Gakpo, who was left with a difficult decision about whether to leave for the Premier League or stay put with PSV. He claims that call was influenced by God, though, resting the decision on the number of goals he would score against FC Volendam. As fate turned out, he scored a hat-trick and that made his mind up.
Reflecting upon his decision to snub Leeds, Gakpo told ESPN: “You have a difficult decision to make, and then you go to prayer to talk to God and ask for wisdom. I got that.
“People might think I’m strange. I could go to Southampton, Leeds came into the race and PSV wanted me to stay. I presented the three options I had to God.
“If I scored once, I would go to Southampton. If I scored twice, I would go to Leeds and if I scored three I would stay at PSV.”
Leeds would never have another opportunity to rekindle their pursuit of Gakpo. He was sensational in the half-season that followed with PSV, scoring 13 goals and grabbing 17 assists from just 24 games.
His performances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar were indicative of a player destined for an even greater podium, finding the back of the net in all three group matches against Senegal, Ecuador and the hosts.
Less than a month after his World Cup exploits, Gakpo sealed a reported £35m switch to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool following the breakdown of a prospective move to Manchester United due to Financial Fair Play Rules. As they say, the rest is history.
Missing out on £35m Liverpool star Cody Gakpo will haunt Leeds United
Narrowly missing out on Gakpo’s services at the time had already felt a significant blow for Leeds, though that feeling is amplified tenfold when you consider the success he has gone on to achieve at Anfield. The 25-year-old scored 16 times across all competitions last term, and during his time at the club, nobody at Elland Road has matched his goal tally – not even the now departed Summerville, who went close.
Indeed, he has proven himself to be a vital attacking component at the club alongside fellow superstars such as Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and, of course, Mohamed Salah.
Leeds, then, will wish luck had been on their side. Had they managed to secure Gakpo that summer, you could quite reasonably suggest that they never would have succumbed to the relegation which has stripped them of some of their most prized assets over the last two seasons.
Capable of playing anywhere across the frontline, Gakpo is direct, rapid off the mark, can beat defenders on the inside and outside and offers a lethal goal threat.
Although his game has been raised at Liverpool, he still had bags of quality and goalscoring pedigree at the time Leeds tried to sign him, and he would have promised to play the leading role that was just one season too soon for Summerville.
And, like Summerville himself, Leeds could well have eventually sold Gakpo on for a much greater fee than what they paid. Leeds had lost Raphinha that summer to FC Barcelona and needed to replace the Brazilian’s star quality.
Even now, Gakpo is still yet to usurp Raphinha in his career. However, Leeds instead had landed another Eredivisie sensation at the time in Luis Sinisterra, but he spent only one season with the club and scored just five times before moving to Bournemouth.
Make no mistake about it, a case of a different fate in the Gakpo saga could have made recent years at Leeds considerably different.
