PSV Eindhoven star Noa Lang admits a €40 million Leeds United deal was close to happening, according to an interview shared with the Pingelaars Podcast.
The 24-year-old joined PSV this summer for a fee of £10 million from Belgian side Club Brugge, where he had spent three seasons after coming through the ranks at his home club Ajax. The Dutch international has picked up 10 caps for his nation, finding the back of the net twice for the Oranje.
The left winger has started the season well on his domestic return to the Netherlands, netting four goals and picking up an assist in eight Eredivisie games this season. Lang picked up an impressive tally of 38 goals and 34 assists for Club Brugge in 125 appearances for the outfit, a tally that could’ve been cut short if the reported deal with Leeds had been completed.
Via Voetbalprimeur, Noa Lang spoke on the Pingelaars Podcast about the deal that almost happened whilst the Whites were still in the Premier League. He said:
“The media wrote that I had agreed with AC Milan, but I was previously close to a switch to Leeds. Leeds wanted to buy me for €40 million from Bruges.”
He went on to speak on why perhaps the deal never happened:
“In the end, the deal fell through and then I was really mentally exhausted. Marcelo Bielsa doubted how much work I could do without the ball…”
Whilst the player does not confirm when this deal was reportedly from, it would be suspected that the deal was from the summer transfer window of 2021 prior to the season Bielsa was eventually sacked at Leeds. This is due to the money being reported being of Premier League magnitude, and Lang’s 2020/21 season at Brugge being on loan from Ajax, therefore Leeds were unable to sign the player from Brugge in the summer of 2020.
That summer the Yorkshire outfit instead made a late window move for Manchester United’s Daniel James for £25million. The Welshman has picked up four goals and four assists for Daniel Farke’s this season.
Writer’s View
Not going through with a €40 million deal for a player who has moved for just £10million this summer may have proved to have been a good decision for Leeds, further vindicated by the impressive form shown by Daniel James this season.
Though if Lang had been able to capture some of the ability he has shown over the years and translate it to the Premier League, perhaps their survival wouldn’t have come down to the last day.
Sam writes for The Real EFL, covering all EFL tiers while pursuing a Sports Journalism degree at the University of South Wales.
