Leeds United confirmed the midfielder’s transfer to Championship outfit Hull City on Monday evening.
Leeds United have insured against the free exit of Darko Gyabi to Hull City with the inclusion of a significant sell-on clause, according to reports.
Gyabi’s move to the MKM Stadium was confirmed on Monday evening, with the official announcement arriving 30 minutes after the 7pm transfer deadline. All paperwork and formalities were complete beforehand with the midfielder signing a three-year contract that includes a 12-month extension option.
Initial reports surrounding the move suggested Gyabi would join Hull on loan, with the Championship club currently under an EFL embargo that prevents them from paying any kind of fee. But the YEP’s understanding was a permanent exit would be sanctioned, despite the 21-year-old still having one year left on his Elland Road deal.
The exact structure of that deal was unclear at the time, with Hull unable to pay a transfer fee and Leeds unlikely to cut loose on a £5million summer 2022 investment without any palpable benefit. But following confirmation of the move Hull Live provided more detail on what was agreed.
They claim that after a breakthrough in talks over the weekend, Elland Road chiefs negotiated a significant sell-on clause which grants them up to 50 per cent of any future sale. How much that could end up being, of course, depends on Gyabi’s development in East Yorkshire but it at least offers a chance for Leeds to recoup some of their £5m outlay in the future.
The YEP reported in June how Leeds hoped to get between £3-4m for Gyabi, which would have allowed them to book a small profit from a Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) perspective. The midfielder’s £5m fee would have been amortised over the length of a four-year contract, meaning after three years there was around £1.25m left to pay.
Could Leeds United still get money for Darko Gyabi?
For Leeds to eventually break even on Gyabi from a PSR perspective, they would need to see Hull sell him for at least £2.5m in the future, as well as receiving the maximum reported 50 per cent sell-on clause. That is not an unrealistic amount, given he is still only 21, an England youth international and proven at lower-Championship level via loan spells with Plymouth Argyle.
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Leeds will hope Hull can extract the best out of Gyabi much like they appear to be doing with loan star Joe Gelhardt. The 21-year-old returned to the MKM Stadium in a season-long switch earlier this summer, having scored five goals in 20 games during the second-half of the 2024/25 campaign.
Gelhardt has started this season like he finished the last, with four appearances and two goals for the 17th-placed Tigers already. The Liverpudlian is thought to have made it clear to Leeds he wanted a return to Hull, even with Ruben Selles replaced by Sergej Jakirovic.
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