De Paul delivers tantalising one-word answer to chances of Leeds switch

Rodrigo de Paul

Udinese attacking midfielder Rodrigo De Paul has seemingly confirmed he wants to join Leeds United this summer.

The Argentina international responded to a tweet confirming his desire to make the switch to Elland Road.

De Paul has been linked with Leeds throughout the summer window, and that talk took a massive upturn via social media on Monday evening.

Leeds fanzine ‘The Square Ball’ tweeted about De Paul on Monday evening.

The account wrote: “Apparently he’s keen on the move but it now rests with the clubs.”

And the 26-year-old responded with “Yes”, followed by the crossed fingers emoji – although he deleted the tweet and his actual account soon after.

De Paul has been at Udinese since 2016, making 146 appearances for the Serie A club in total.

He was left out of the squad for the friendly against Vicenza on Sunday night, amid rumours of an imminent exit.

Zenit St.Petersburg were also in the running for his signature, but De Paul has snubbed a switch to Russia.

 

It appeared that the player seemed likely to stay in Italy, with Napoli and Fiorentina both keen on his services.

However, this latest twist looks like it has given Leeds a huge opportunity to bolster their midfield options.

The Whites must now agree a fee for the midfielder. Reports last month said that Udinese wanted around £31million for his services.

 

PAYET TEMPTED BY LEEDS SWITCH

Meanwhile, Leeds came within a whisker of convincing Dimitri Payet to return to the Premier League this summer, according to a report in France.

Payet, 33, developed into one of the Premier League’s most talented midfielders with the Hammers between 2015-17.

The French schemer hit 12 goals and grabbed 15 assists in 2015/16 to help West Ham to finish seventh.

Payet left for Marseille for £25million in January 2017 after Slaven Bilic revealed the player did not want to play for the club and was pining over a return to France.

He even admitted he knew how to be a “d***head” after securing his controversial release from the club.

Players of his ilk rarely stay still for long, it seems.

The player was fleetingly mentioned as a possible target for Leeds upon their promotion to the Premier League.

Now Le10 Sport has lifted the lid on just how close Leeds were to landing the former Hammers favourite. Read more…