Jesse Marsch makes '99.9 per cent' claim on Leeds United's Cody Gakpo transfer pursuit

The American says Leeds were ‘99.9 per cent’ of the way towards signing Cody Gakpo from PSV this summer, revealing that he had spoken to the player before a move failed to materialise on transfer deadline day. Four months on, Gakpo has begun the Eredivisie season tremendously and has managed to score in each of the Netherlands’ three group stage matches at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This has led Marsch to state that Gakpo is now out of Leeds’ transfer price range with less than a month to go until the January window, in which club chairman Andrea Radrizzani stated the club would endeavour to revive a deal for the Dutch international forward. Advertisement Hide Ad "We will continue to work on Gapko. Now it s [sic] time to focus on the pitch and support our new project and the great job Jesse and the staff are doing,” Radrizanni tweeted on September 1st. Netherlands' forward #08 Cody Gakpo celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between the Netherlands and Qatar at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha on November 29, 2022. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images) "It's difficult for us at Leeds because I think Gakpo has gotten out of our price range,” Marsch revealed. “We were so close to securing a transfer for him in summer. I mean, it was so close and now obviously it's disappointing for us,” the Leeds head coach told Men In Blazers host Roger Bennett. “Our sports director was in Holland and was meeting with the family, had agreed on terms on everything, was talking with PSV. I mean, we were 99.9 per cent [of the way there], so I felt bad for Victor Orta and all the effort that he put into it,” Marsch added. Advertisement Hide Ad Leeds ended up signing Italy forward Willy Gnonto on deadline day, but were keen to re-enter the market in January, eyeing a potential move for the Netherlands man. However, Marsch’s admission now means that appears somewhat unlikely as the 23-year-old courts interest from Europe’s cabal of super-clubs.

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