Rodrigo De Paul was heavily linked with a move to Leeds United during the last window, but the Whites reportedly failed to convince Udinese to sanction his sale.
Reports from Italy had explained the Premier League side were not willing to offer more than €25m for the midfielder, while his employers were demanding in excess of €35m.
The Argentina international ended up staying at Udinese, and has played every minute in the league this season.
Last month, Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani admitted “we thought about him” when asked if his side considered making an approach for the 26-year-old in the summer.
Radrizzani’s comments have now been backed by the English club’s head of European recruitment, Gabriel Ruiz, during an interview with TuttoMercatoWeb.
When quizzed how concrete the idea of signing De Paul was, Ruiz said: “There was actually some contact. We talked about it, but then we decided to focus on other options.”
Meanwhile, AS Roma have seen a change of owners in recent months and the club’s new management wanted to appoint a new director of football.
Leeds’ Victor Orta was considered as a target for the role, and Ruiz was asked about the reports linking Orta to the Italian capital club.
“It existed in the past. But the talks did not go on because of his desire to continue at Leeds. Our club is a crazy project and his will has always been to carry it forward, to work with Leeds,” the official explained.
