Leeds United received emails from Feyenoord and Paixao’s representatives suggesting respective terms had been agreed | OneFootball

Leeds United had received emails from Feyenoord and the representatives of Igor Paixao suggesting respective terms had been agreed, according to The Athletic.

The email from the Eredivisie club was received by Leeds during the first-half of their friendly game against Paderborn last Saturday.

However, the sporting director of the Elland Road club Adam Underwood was not confident it was a done deal, and he felt the opportunity to play Champions League football at Marseille was what Paixao and his family wanted.

It proved true in the end as Leeds lost the race for the Brazilian winger to the Ligue 1 club.

Marseille had appeared to be losing the race having initially failed to offer Feyenoord what they wanted.

The Whites offered a €32 million bid, with €3m in add-ons, but the French club eventually tabled something similar, and Paixao opted to join them instead.

Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe, managing director Robbie Evans and Underwood held phone calls with the player and his representatives, while manager Daniel Farke and latest signing Lucas Perri spoke with him too.

However, those attempts were not enough to convince him, and it became clear on Monday that he was not going to be moving to the West Yorkshire club after things went quiet at the player’s end.

Leeds are gutted to have missed out on such a winger after he notched 18 goals and 19 assists in 47 appearances for the Eredivisie club last term, emerging as the Dutch Footballer of the Year.

His return was not enough to earn him a call-up to the national team, and while some impressive performances in the Premier League could have ahead of the 2026 World Cup, he could not resist the opportunity to play in the Champions League for a club that finished second in the league last season.