'You cut it off' - Adam Underwood lifts lid on Leeds United's summer pursuit of Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk
Leeds United’s summer pursuit of Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has been discussed by a key Whites figure
Leeds United sporting director Adam Underwood has lifted the lid on the club’s decision to move on from their pursuit of Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
The 25-year-old was targeted by the Whites in the latter stages of the summer transfer window as the possibility of a loan deal being struck emerged.
Mudryk was said to be interested in a temporary switch to Elland Road, but the race for his signature was won by Tottenham Hotspur.
Clubs cannot afford to run down dead ends at such a key stage of the transfer window and Leeds moved on swiftly to sign Jean-Mattéo Bahoya from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Adam Underwood on Leeds United’s window adaptation
Underwood told the official Leeds website: “You never want to give up on the possibility but as soon as it becomes abundantly clear that it just isn't going to happen, you cut it off.
“So on deadline day, early doors in this room, you’re rattling through what you think are suitable candidates to revisit with the manager.
“Ideally at that stage, none of the names are new to a manager because you're putting on a whole heap of pressure that's not necessary, unless it's an exceptional profile. Daniel [Farke] and his staff have a really good knowledge of the market anyway.”
Signing Jean-Mattéo Bahoya
Bahoya was already on the Leeds radar and the club had already done business with Frankfurt, landing goalkeeper Michael Zetterer earlier in the window.
Underwood said: “He was a player Daniel and his team were familiar with and we had looked at him over a period of time. He was regarded as a player we could develop to see if we could get him to that stage of being a starter.
“When we did Zetterer they had been nudging us on Bahoya and it was pretty clear he wanted a move. We were able to leverage the fact that it was deadline day to get a deal that we were particularly happy with in the short term, with an obligation-to-buy on a basis that allows us to give the player a true opportunity to demonstrate to Daniel and to the club that he’s worthy of our future investment.
“I think if we'd have done the deal a month earlier, that wouldn't have been a possibility. Even a week earlier they would have wanted a fixed amount.”