Leeds United have missed signing great players in recent years after Marcelo Bielsa returned the whites to the Premier League in 2020.
The people of Elland Road attacked Rafina’s Transfer Gold. The Brazilian winger has since starred in Yorkshire before sealing off a big move to Barcelona in 2022.
However, Leeds may have signed icons Diego Maradona and Frank Lampard at once. And recently, many other star names have come closer to joining white people.
10-star player Leeds United almost signed
10
Diego Maradona
A year after Diego Maradona led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986, Leeds made an ambitious move to sign the icon from Naples.
The director of Bill Fozaby, then Division 2 side, was ready to spend a whopping £8 million on Maradona and was in discussion with the player’s agents. However, Leeds eventually pulled the plug and Maradona remained in Naples until 1991.
9
Frank Lampard
After Rio Ferdinand moved to Elland Road in 2000, Leeds attempted to raid West Ham again, a year later, for Frank Lampard.
The whites were thought to be ready to pay the midfielder £10 million, but as we know, he joined Chelsea instead.
Lampard then became a Leeds rival and served as Derby County manager during the famous “Spy Gate” scandal of Bielsa’s time as a white boss.
8
Erling Haaland
Striker Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and openly acknowledged that he was a white advocate, and the people of Erndo Road inherited the opportunity to sign Norwegians when he was in Morde.
Now a global superstar, Haaland was 17 at the time and was in the championship when Leeds failed.
7
Duncan Ferguson
Duncan Ferguson was a striker who loved the atmosphere of Elland Road as a home player, and Leeds mostly signed him in 1993.
Dundee United accepted an offer worth £32.5 million from the whites, but instead signed the Ranger before moving to Everton and England 12 months later.
6
In the case of gvviool
Manchester City signed Josco Gvaldior in 2023 with a world record fee for defender over £77 million. But three years before his move to England, Gvardiol may have signed Leeds after being promoted to the Premier League.
Leeds even agreed to a fee with Dinamo Zagreb, but Croatian International stole a white man from RB Leipzig.
5
Rodrigo de Paul
In the summer of 2020, Leeds missed central midfielders Rodrigo de Paul and Gvaldior.
De Paul was Udinese’s player at the time, and instead signed Atletico Madrid, he helped win the World Cup in Qatar two years later.
4
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Currently, Paris Saint-Germain star and Europe’s best star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is another case that could have been for Bielsa’s Leeds.
Following his first successful season back in the Premier League, Bielsa wanted an offense targeting Victor Orta and Co at Russian club Rubin Kazan Kvaratskhelia.
Instead, Leeds signed Manchester United’s Dan James, and Bielsa lost her job during the 2021/22 season.
3
Cordial Gut
Leeds was eager to sign Kody Gakupo from PSV Eindhoven later in the summer of 2023 transfer window. Alter and CO are jumping out to the Netherlands and aiming to bring the Star Attacker back to Yorkshire.
Gakupo recalled the story of how he placed his fate in God’s hands the night before the transfer window closed.
“People might think I was odd. I could go to Southampton, Leeds went into the race and PSV wanted to stay with me. I presented God with three options. Once I scored, I went to Southampton.
Gakpo remained at PSV as he scored a PSV hat-trick in a 7-1 win over FC Volendam and eventually moved to Liverpool six months later.
2
Viktor
Viktor Gyoker signed Arsenal in 2025, but Orta nearly signed him for Leeds a few years before his big buck moved from Sports CP to the Emirates.
The Swedish striker was scoring for fun at Coventry City in the championship, but Leeds instead defeated the bank in 2023 for Hoffenheim’s Giorginio Rutter.
Coventry City and Sports CP Gyokeres Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
Coventry City | Sports CP | |
game | 116 | 102 |
the goal | 43 | 97 |
assist | 17 | 28 |
“When I was at Leeds United, I didn’t want to give him (£11.7) million. Cases like Gyoker are a good surprises that football gives us.
1
Ollie Watkins
When Leeds returned to the Premier League, they targeted Ollie Watkins, who was appearing at Brentford in the Championship.
Watkins admitted that the whites were keen on him, but Leeds decided to instead sign Spanish international Rodrigo to lead their line.
Rodrigo had ups and downs on Elland Road, but Watkins signed Aston Villa and regularly hit double numbers for Premier League goals.
