Leeds United were one of the Premier League sides that made firm efforts to sign PSV Eindhoven star Cody Gakpo in the latter stages of the summer transfer window.
The Whites sporting director, Victor Orta, made a trip to the Netherlands to convince the 23-year-old to move to Elland Road.
Leeds failed to land the forward, who has excelled for PSV this season, scoring 13 goals and registering 11 assists form 19 matches in all competitions.
Last month, journalist Rik Elfrink reported that Jesse Marsch’s side will make a fresh effort to sign the Netherlands international in January. The possibility of the Premier League side returning for the player was also suggested by Voetbal International earlier this month.
Gakpo was in London this week as PSV faced Arsenal at the Emirates on Thursday. The Dutchman failed to impress in the Europa League tie as his side lost 1-0 to the Gunners.
With Leeds among his suitors, the clash against Arsenal was the first time English fans had a chance to take a closer look at Gakpo.
“That gives some extra pressure, but I did my utmost here to get a result with PSV. I was not busy with anything else,” he said, as quoted by Voetbal Primeur.
Regarding the defeat to Arsenal result, Gakpo said: “It’s no shame that you lose here. As a team, we really did everything we could to get a draw out of this, but unfortunately, we didn’t succeed. We fought and our goal was at least to keep the clean sheet. But if you look at the qualities they have and how easily they can find each other, it’s no shame we didn’t.”
