Leeds United exit's Hull City 'ambition' as Whites chiefs await possible cash windfall
Leeds United will be due a percentage of any fee if Hull City decide to sell Darko Gyabi in the future.
Leeds United summer exit Darko Gyabi is desperate to keep improving with regular football at Hull City.
Gyabi found himself a new permanent home on deadline-day at the start of this month, signing a three-year contract at the MKM Stadium to join Leeds loanee Joe Gelhardt. Hull got their man despite being under an EFL embargo that prohibits fee-paying transfers, with Elland Road chiefs essentially cutting their midfielder’s contract a year short to facilitate his exit.
Part of that deal was that Leeds would receive a significant portion of any future sale, with reports at the time suggesting a sell-on clause could be worth up to 50 per cent. The Whites will therefore be keen to see the 21-year-old develop in the hope it generates them a cash windfall later down the line.
"I've come here with an ambition to improve, to help the team and to grow as a person," Gyabi told Hull Live. "I think there's a lot in my game that I can improve and work on, but there are also things that I can add to the team.
“I'm 21 with a three-year contract, so the main goal is to do what I can do on the pitch and focus on coming in every day, working hard, and improving from my last few seasons of professional football. Until now, there's been a lot of improvement, but there's also more in my game that I can add and keep working on, and that's the main goal for me.”
Leeds had hoped to get between £3-4million for Gyabi, who impressed on loan at Plymouth Argyle last season before a groin injury ended his campaign early. That price-tag was the same for loan exit Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood, who joined Polish outfit Pogoń Szczecin for around £3.5m.
Darko Gyabi recalls Hull City transfer talks
While Leeds could still break even on Gyabi, from a PSR perspective at least, their decision to effectively sanction a free transfer for someone who cost £5m four years ago came as a surprise. But as the former Manchester City academy prospect explained, it was not the kind of rushed decision that tends to happen on deadline day.
“To be fair, it was something that was happening in the background a couple of weeks before that, there were talks, but nothing concrete," the midfielder recalled. "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."
Gyabi made his debut for Hull on Saturday, coming off the bench for the final seven minutes of 2-2 Championship draw with Swansea City. The England youth international will hope to get more minutes under his belt against Southampton this weekend.