Leeds United’s previous policy of signings youngsters for the U21s with a view of making big profit was hit and miss, one of the talents to slip through the net was Elia Caprile.
There’s plenty of what ifs about how Leeds have conducted previous transfer policy, including the summer window just gone.
Prior to that, there have been incredibly talented players that didn’t get a look in for whatever reason, only to find success elsewhere once they got opportunities.
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Leeds United sold Elia Caprile for nominal fee and received decent sell-on clause sum
During Victor Orta’s tenure, a side-project for the club to potentially save millions was scouring Europe for U21 talent to bulk up the youth setup.
In the process, Leeds could develop players in-house into viable first team options. Crysencio Summerville was the biggest success, while Pascal Struijk and Mateo Joseph are the two other more notable coups.
A player Leeds brought in and were unable to hand a senior debut to was Elia Caprile, who left the club in 2022 to join Bari in Serie B for a nominal fee. Orta’s talent ID was spot on, though, as Caprile’s rise up the ladder back in Italy was remarkable.
Elia Caprile is shining ever since leaving Leeds United in 2023. (REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo)
After just a year, he joined Scudetto winners Napoli in 2023. As a result, Leeds scooped 50% of his transfer fee. In the end, we banked a reported £3million from his move to Naples. Two loans away from Napoli have seen Caprile since move to Cagliari on a permanent basis in 2025.
Elia Caprile called up to Italy squad for cruial November internationals
The latest in Caprile’s impressive development has been a confirmed call-up to Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy squad for this months’ internationals.
His chances of a debut over the coming days is looking incredibly slim, though, with the Azzurri needing back-to-back wins to qualify directly for the World Cup over Erling Haaland’s Norway.
However, this nod from Gattuso underlines his seriously strong progression from being unable to break into Leeds’ plans, to being one of Italy’s best goalkeepers.
The stats back up Caprile’s strong form continuing:
There’s likely an understanding from Caprile that he was unlikely to get the minutes he needed in West Yorkshire. But, his progression towards an Italy call-up underlines that Leeds may have been premature in letting him leave, knowing Orta was onto something with him.
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