Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Cody Gakpo to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What's the word?

That's according to Sebastien Denis, with the Foot Mercato editor-in-chief revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, with Raphinha looking increasingly likely to move onto pastures new this summer, Victor Orta is now targeting a move for PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo to replace the Brazil international.

The journalist goes on to state in his supporting report that the Eredivisie side are believed to be demanding a figure in the region of €30m (£26m) in order to part with the 23-year-old ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, while Arsenal - who currently look to be leading the race for Raphinha - are also said to hold an interest in the Netherlands international.

In his tweet, Denis said: "Info: Raphinha has just left Leeds United, the English club has already found its future attacking star: Cody Gakpo, the talented winger of PSV Eindhoven who is also being tracked by Arsenal."

"Beautiful talent"

Considering just how promising a player Gakpo undoubtedly is, it is not difficult to understand why, should Raphinha go on to seal a move away from LS11 this summer, Orta would be interested in bringing the PSV starlet to Elland Road in the coming weeks.

Indeed, over his 27 Eredivisie appearances in 2021/22, the £27m-rated winger was in breathtaking form for Roger Schmidt's side, scoring 12 goals, registering 13 assists and creating 11 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 3.0 shots, making 2.6 key passes and completing 2.9 dribbles per game.

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These returns saw the £7.4k-per-week talent average a quite sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.51, not only ranking him as PSV's best performer in the league but also as the fourth-best player in the division as a whole.

As a result of these astounding metrics, Gakpo has already earned a number of compliments in his short career, with Theo Janssen claiming that the 23-year-old "has everything" in his game, while Josh Bunting also appeared incredibly impressed with the forward's display in a 3-2 win over Wales last month.

Concerning the Dutchman's performance, the journalist said: "Cody Gakpo - beautiful talent. He's extremely creative, he picks up the pockets of space with real ease. Won the most duels in the game, he was the best player on the park this evening against Wales for the Netherlands. His performance tonight summed up his season, superb."

As such, it is clear for all to see just how exciting a prospect Gakpo undoubtedly is, with the PSV starlet very much appearing to be a ready-made Raphinha replacement - leading us to believe that Orta must do everything he can to seal a deal for the winger this summer.

AND in other news: Orta eyeing Leeds bid for £15m ace who's "similar to Hazard", he's a "special talent"