Good Morning. It's Wednesday 7th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road PSV blame Orta for scuppering Gakpo deal PSV Director John de Jong has angrily hit out at Leeds over suggestions that Cody Gakpo changed his mind about joining Leeds on transfer day, insisting that Leeds offer fell short of their asking price. The former midfield maestro claimed that PSV were amenable to selling one of their prized assets, but only at the right price, and Orta was playing hard ball. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported that Leeds Director of Football had chartered a private plane expecting to wrap the deal up at £38.8m. Sources claim that personal terms had already been agreed, and the paperwork was ready to be signed, but Gakpo had a last minute change of heart after talking with National team boss Louis van Gaal. Talking with PSV TV, De Jong insists that the offer on the table was not sufficient to warrant selling one of their best players, and had nothing to do with the player:- “Leeds United’s director flew in and talked to Cody. We received and listened to Leeds, but in the end, no concrete offer was put on the table where we thought we should sell him now,” “I think everyone knows that a club has to make an outgoing transfer every year. That’s in the budget. So did we, but in the end, there was not such a good offer on the table that we really considered letting him go.” “It’s hard, it was hard for Cody too. We got together on Thursday morning to talk about it,” please log in to view this image Leeds could sell ER even with 80,000 capacity Leeds Utd journalist Beren Cross believes Leeds would stand a good chance to sell out Elland Road, even if they had an 80,000 capacity. Cross was discussing the long awaited redevelopment plans at LS11 with a fan during his weekly Q and A session on Leeds-Live when he made the astonishing statement. Leeds currently have a capacity of just under 37,000 which sells out every match day. Whilst the waiting list for season tickets is believed to be 20,000, is it feasible to imagine that Leeds could still fill their stadium if it was more than twice the capacity? Should Leeds make the redevelopment project a priority; it seems like they have been discussing it for years, with little to show? According to Cross:- "Staying up last season to secure a third PL season was critical in keeping the ball rolling. I agree they could probably go up to 80,000 and have a good chance of selling out, but I am sure you can appreciate the cost involved in going bigger and the associated risks. Every aspect of this redevelopment has to be assessed and done in a measured way. They will not want to bite off more than they can chew." please log in to view this image Rodrigo unlikely to be offered extended deal after wage soar claim During a recent Q and A session, YEP journalist Graham Smyth suggested that Leeds are unlikely to offer record signing Rodrigo an extended contract. The 31yo record signing penned a four-year deal two years ago, making him the most expensive player (both in terms of monetary value and salary) at the time. Unfortunately, although we have seen glimpses of brilliance from the Spanish International, he hasn't been able to do it on a consistent basis. Smyth also revealed that 'the wage bill at Leeds has already undergone a serious uplift in recent times', which may suggest why Jan James was sent out on loan. "Rodrigo will be 33 by the time his contract runs out at Elland Road. Given his issues with niggles and the fact that his first two seasons were so difficult and inconsistent, I would be surprised if there was talk of a new deal any time soon. He looks after himself as a model pro by all accounts but the intensity of Premier League football under Marcelo Bielsa and then Jesse Marsch will take a toll. He would be an expensive one to do, as well, and the wage bill at Leeds has already undergone a serious uplift in recent times." "The purple patch at the start of this season was welcome and he has clearly gone from a player who might well have been heading out the door to free up finances in the summer, to a player with fire in his belly and an important role to play. He’s just got to show he can carry it on, once he’s back fit of course." please log in to view this image
So on Gakpo: PSV say they were willing to sell but the valuation wasn't met and gakpo was disappointed not to get his move Gakpo himself says it was his decision, influenced by Van Gaal Leeds say a deal was agreed with all parties before Van Gaal intervened Glad that's all clear then
Bloody hell, not a lot of positives in all that. Even myself or Wakey couldn't find a few threads of positivity in that morning debate
Morning all Rodrigo - I wouldn't offer him a new contract either, not when he is going to be 33 Elland Road - I'm not sentimental about playing at ER or a new ground, if we were filling an 80,000-seater stadium then things must be doing well. I can't see it happening anytime soon (stadium move) Gakpo - I saw the Gakpo interview translated, he was all set to move to Man United, but they never came through with an offer. When he thought the move was on, he spoke to LVG who said moving to "ANY" new overseas club is a risk in a world cup year. When they never came through with an offer, he said there were several clubs wanting to sign him all at the last minute, but it all felt rushed. With it being a world cup year and trying to be fair to PSV he thought it best to remain where he was. When we had to loan out James in order to bring in a £4m signing you do wonder how we were possibly going to fund in the region of £40m for Gakpo. My own personal opinion, we seem to always be chasing that expensive marquee shadow, I think it is just an exercise in appeasing the fans. Orta jetted out in the morning and returned the same evening did he not?
Even Orta wouldnt hire a private jet if he hadnt had an indication a deal was close. Firstly player has agreed to come and would imagine at least the CEO of PSV had agreed initial deal. Now that its all fallen through theres one PSV director putting his spin on it. Nobody knows and we wont find out for months if ever. My own view is it was in and then LVG and even maybe a greedy director demanding even more cash? I tend to ignore Beren Cross as he speaks more clickbait than the very ill-informed Phil Hay. Cant see any spades in the ground for development work at ER until Radz is either bought out or a junior shareholder. He cannot afford and nor can the club afford to shell out so much cash in its present state.
Another point constantly quoted is the 20k on a waiting list for a season ticket. Im sure there are and Im one of them. However many will be my vintage or close. To be honest, development will take at least five years and I like many others will be too old to get any value from it. Just because there are 20k on a list to buy something, when the time comes around and they have to weigh up cost against other expenses, a chunk of those might not convert to sales. Indeed peoples circumstances will change dramatically in five years. Younger applicants may find themselves with mortgages and associated bills etc
the dutch pronunciation makes it sound like yak poo which: -makes it easier to remember -probably how he'd play if he ever did sign for us
Angus Kinnear's podcast interview at the start of the season said 5 years to complete. Spades in the ground in 2 years. So must be true. Both he and Radz have liked to quote the stat that teams are most likely to be relegated in years 1-2 after promotion. So they feel confident doing the development now. Given as we are statistically unlikley to be relegated, it's a wonder they didn't take the opportunity to sell the entire team over the summer.
Morning All Ended up working in a school in Bradford yesterday and it ended up being Fabian Delph's old school. The Gakpo saga has ended until January so let's leave it at that. We've got more important things to concentrate on like the games coming up. Seriously this new Stadium thing comes up every few years. It's boring now. Where the hell are they going to stick a new Stadium in Leeds? It would need to be near the City Centre and let's face it unless you stick it across the carriageway across from the White Rose Centre there's nowhere else, in my opinion, you could put it as I don't think it should go out toward the North of the city. Regarding Rodrigo Sell him in January or The Summer and get some money back for him. Let's not run down the contract and let him go on a free. It's bad business and Bates isn't in charge of the club. In other news, Chelsea have sacked Tuchel
Good riddance yah weasly little twat! Never had an opinion on him until his whiny excuses about the bus when we beat them.
On a serious not who the hell are they going to bring in this time. They've literally had every manager in world football
Chelsea has to be one of the best gigs in world football. You get an astronomical five year deal. You won't ever have to work much more than a year and then collect all your wages. Wish I could swing a job like that
Lets face it whatever happens its going to be a while yet. I remember Kinnear/Radz talking about getting to the 3rd season in the prem before we can afford to do anything. Err yeah but without investing tons it wont happen and we will only be one season away from catastrophe if we get relegated. So the development should be separate from the players/league etc as we are always just one season away from problems until we have an established top squad competing at the top end of the table. We have 49ers and we have Westfield Developments, let them buy the club and invest in developing it. The football club cannot afford to fund it
