Leeds United infamously missed out on a pair of quality wingers during the transfer window last summer. One of those was Igor Paixao.
United were unable to complete a deal on deadline day for Fulham’s Harry Wilson. There is still, though, a chance that the Whites could land their man on a free transfer this summer.
Igor Paixao was another name linked with a move to Elland Road from Feyenoord. However, the Brazilian winger ultimately ended up at Marseille instead.
Roma appear to be leading the race to sign Igor Paixao 10 months on from Leeds United rejection
But now reports coming out of Italy suggest that Paixao could once again be on the move, just one year after nearly joining Leeds.
Part of the reason Paixao will have surely favoured a move to Marseille over Leeds would have been the allure of Champions League football. Ironically, following his move to France, Marseille were dumped out of the competition in the league stage.
Marseille’s 5th place finish in Ligue 1 this season also ensured they missed out on qualifying for the Champions League again. The French outfit are now under pressure financially to sell some of their assets.
According to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma are said to hold a strong interest in Paixao. It’s said he will likely cost just over £30million.
To put that into context, Leeds bid £26million for Paixao last summer. It makes it all the more frustrating that we missed out on him with his seemingly ever-rising valuation.
In fairness, the Brazilian’s season warrants it. He managed six goals and five assists in Ligue 1 for Marseille in just 1981 total minutes ().
However, if Paixao does end up making the move to Italy, then surely that will effectively rule out the possibility of the winger ever signing for Leeds. You’d think we will then surely turn their attention to other targets.
49ers and Adam Underwood to take confidence from potential Igor Paixao move to Roma
Our sporting director, Adam Underwood, came under intense scrutiny last summer for our recruitment in the transfer window. But, with the way nearly all of our new signings performed last season, his judgment in players can no longer be questioned.
Even though it looks like we will never sign Paixao, the fact that he went on to impress in France before potentially making a big money move to Roma just further reinforces the fact that our recruitment team are certainly looking in the right areas.
Farke needs more quality out wide ahead of next season. So, hopefully Underwood and Co. can identify more players similar in quality to Paixao. Only this time, players Leeds could actually sign at some stage before the new season begins.
The longer we remain a Premier League outfit, the more likely we are to land even the more ambitious targets that Underwood identifies. Hopefully, we can avoid any repeats of the dramatic Paixao saga that went on last summer.
0%
Love
0%
Funny
0%
Wow
0%
Sad
0%
Angry