'You can't' - Rival club chief makes Leeds United admission in discussing Whites transfer

Swansea landed Dutch striker Piroe from PSV Eindhoven for a reported £1m rising to £2m in the summer of 2021 and the forward netted 46 goals from 96 games over the next two seasons. Speaking to Wales Online, the club’s sporting director Paul Watson admitted that his club were keen to keep hold of Piroe who instead sealed a move to Leeds last month for a fee north of £10m. Watson, though, admits that his side ultimately could not compete with a club like Leeds and their parachute payments when the Whites came in with their offer.

“I had a lot of conversations with Joel," said Watson. "I have had conversations with a lot of players. I have said there are two things I will be – I will be fair and I will be honest.

“We ultimately wanted to try to keep Joel but what he wanted and what his representatives wanted wasn’t within the structure of the football club.

“We felt we couldn’t break that structure because of the knock-on effect. That was coupled with an offer that came in. We had an internal valuation and that was met and exceeded in some contingents.

“When you are getting a return on an investment, he indicated that he wasn’t going to sign a new contract and you can’t compete with a club who have parachute payments, that all came to a point where you say what do we do, we get the absolute best for the football club. We can get something we can then reinvest and strengthen as we go."