Darko Gyabi says he had spoken to Hull City well in advance of his deadline day switch from Leeds United.
The 21-year-old left the club for nothing with Hull unable to spend while under transfer restrictions, but the deal contains a sell-on clause that could reach as high as 50%. Gyabi had not played for Daniel Farke all summer, being omitted from the pre-season tour squad.
The midfielder had cost Leeds £5million upon his switch from Manchester City in 2022, but he only managed to play five senior games. Gyabi spent last season out on loan at Plymouth Argyle, playing 43 Championship matches and being in the side that beat Liverpool in the FA Cup.
Speaking about his move to the Tigers to sister site Hull Live, Gyabi said: “To be fair, it was something that was happening in the background a couple of weeks before that, there were talks, but nothing concrete.
"Everything happened on deadline day, so it feels like it was frantic, but really and truly it wasn't as bad as maybe people thought or as rushed. It was just having to do it quite quickly, in terms of once it was close, trying to sort out everything. Other than that, it was all good."
Tanaka hails Rodon
Ao Tanaka says Joe Rodon was his 'MVP' of last season, and had voted for him in the players’ player of the year category in the club’s end of season awards in May. In a wide-ranging interview with GOAL Japan, Tanaka explained how Rodon aided his own game.
“He [Rodon] played in all 46 games. I think he's the MVP,” he said. “He's a really good player. And as I've said so far, you can see that playing in 46 games is really amazing. He wasn't captain, but he was a great leader for the team. That's why I voted for him.
“He can pass the ball from the back, carry the ball, and defend. Last year, it was difficult for me to build up the play without him. He would give me the ball, look after me, and help me out. He also set the line high, so I think it was a really great performance.”
Joseph gets first assist for Mallorca
Mateo Joseph started his third game for loan club Mallorca on Monday night and was handed an assist for winning a converted spot kick in the team’s 3-2 loss to Espanyol. Joseph played 65 minutes before being replaced.
He has yet to score in his four overall outings, though two of the opponents were Barcelona and Real Madrid. Joseph is playing in a two up top alongside Vedat Muriqi, who has scored three of Mallorca’s four goals this season, despite being sent off in the opening game and missing the next.
It appears as though he is the number one attacker pick with Joseph second in line, albeit the formation systems used by manager Jagoba Arrasate is able to cater for both strikers, for now.
Joseph’s 265 league minutes of action for Mallorca thus far is more than the amount of time he played for Leeds from January 27 onwards last term.
Here at LeedsLive, we are dedicated to bringing you the bestLeeds Unitedcoverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest Leeds news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clickinghereto subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Clickhereto be sent all the day's biggest stories.