Some chases just refuse to die. Leeds United have knocked on this particular door twice, heard the same answer both times and kept coming back anyway. Now somebody else’s bank balance might finally push it open.
Football Insider reports that Marseille’s financial worries could force them to sell winger Igor Paixao, with Leeds scouts already watching him closely. Pete O’Rourke revealed the details on the Transfer Insider podcast. Leeds tried to sign the Brazilian in 2025, lost out to Marseille in a deal worth around £30m, and came back this summer. A £40m price tag killed their late interest in August.
Things look different now. Paixao hasn’t scored or set up a single goal in five Ligue 1 starts this season, 367 minutes of frustration. French reports say Marseille could make him available, and he’s admitted he might leave in January or next summer. O’Rourke doesn’t expect anything before June, though. Marseille won’t want to lose a starter midway through the campaign, and the price would stay high.
That detail matters. Champions League football swung his decision in 2025, according to his camp, and Marseille now play in the Europa League. Leeds’ pitch hasn’t changed: Premier League football and the Raphinha route out of Elland Road.
So what would the Elland Road-based club get? A livewire. Last season he scored 10 and created six in 37 games across all competitions, including six goals and five assists in 30 Ligue 1 appearances plus four Champions League goals in eight. At 5ft 6in, he’s tiny, right-footed and awkward to mark, drifting in off the left, dribbling past people and shooting from distance. Five of his goals last term came from outside the box.
Who plays there now? Nobody, really. Daniel Farke’s 3-5-2 has no natural wide forward, and Wilfried Gnonto left for Fiorentina on 1 September while Jack Harrison went to New England Revolution. Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson share the creative load behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has three league goals. Okafor has one, Aaronson none.
Leeds sit seventh with nine points from six games, unbeaten at Elland Road, so nobody’s panicking. Cash isn’t the problem either. A player like Paixao would probably want around £80,000 a week, my guess, on top of that fee, and that’s serious money for a man without a goal this term.
Is Paixao the missing piece for Farke’s Leeds United?
Yes, with conditions. Paixao suits Farke’s shape better than most wingers would, because he plays like a second striker anyway. Slot him next to Calvert-Lewin in the 3-5-2, let him drift left and run at tired full-backs, and he gives them the dribbler they lost with Gnonto. His low centre of gravity and willingness to shoot from distance also add something Okafor and Aaronson don’t offer, since neither carries the ball past defenders as often.
The concerns are fair, though. Zero goals and zero assists this season is a worrying return, and £40m for a 26-year-old with limited resale value doesn’t make sense. Add wages of around £80,000 a week and the total outlay climbs fast.
January looks wrong. Marseille will hold firm, and Leeds would pay a premium for a player short of confidence. Summer 2027 is the sensible window. If Marseille’s asking price falls to around £25m, Daniel Farke should move. At £40m, Leeds United should walk away and trust our own wide options.
Farke’s Leeds are seventh and settled. Paixao would sharpen them. He wouldn’t rescue them.
