Elland Road, the home of Leeds United Football Club. (Photo by NAOMI BAKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Elland Road, the home of Leeds United Football Club. (Photo by NAOMI BAKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Elland Road, the home of Leeds United Football Club. (Photo by NAOMI BAKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Leeds United urged to launch summer swoop for Turkish star as high-profile name snubs Whites approach

Leeds United-linked Rodrigo De Paul is a transfer saga waiting to happen this summer.

The Whites have long been linked with the Udinese playmaker ever since director of football Victor Orta confirmed his interest to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

He said: “[De Paul] was one player we analysed but, in the end, the valuation of his club was at a level that was difficult for Leeds to reach, as a newly promoted club – not just for Leeds but a lot of clubs.

"In the end, nobody took him, because of the evaluation of his club, which is fair.”

But since then, a number of clubs are said to have joined the 26-year-old’s list of admirers, including Liverpool, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain.

Udinese director Pierpaolo Marino warned that De Paul wouldn’t be sold on the cheap. Now, his manager, Luca Gotti has also weighed in.

"You couldn’t blame him for being tempted (to leave),” he told DAZN via Football Italia.

"Alongside the growth of the player, which everyone has been able to witness on the pitch, I also saw De Paul grow as a person over the last two years.

"He has this leadership within the squad that comes from a place of positivity.

"There are different ways to be a leader, some are authoritarian, but he has this sort of halo of positivity that spreads out and envelops everyone around him."

The general message from the Serie A club seems to be that he is available this summer, but only at the right price.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of gossip surrounding Leeds – including more on those links to Massimiliano Allegri: