Joseph Paintsil has claimed he did not leave Genk this summer as neither Leeds United or Southampton met his ‘expectations’.
Paintsil was speaking in an interview with Het Laatse Nieuws, where he claimed he made his mind up quickly that Leeds was not the right club for him.
Leeds were heavily keen on signing Paintsil towards the latter stages of the window and according to the Athletic, were willing to meet Genk’s £10 million asking price.
It was also said by reliable journalist David Ornstein that Paintsil was keen on a move to Leeds after rejecting a move to Southampton.
However, as also reported by the Athletic, Painstil was involved in some ‘financial wrangling’ with Genk which was never able to get sorted, ultimately meaning a deal wasn’t able to get done.
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Paintsil says Leeds interest did not meet ‘expectations’
Despite a host of reports suggesting Paintsil wanted to move to Leeds, he has now actually claimed otherwise, suggesting a move to the Championship was not up to his ‘expectations’.
He said: “I’m still here. There were many rumours, many possibilities. When my agent said that I could go to Southampton and Leeds United, it quickly became clear to me that I did not want to leave Genk for those clubs.
“Look, every player has certain expectations. My dream is to one day play in the Premier League. Or at least in a top five European league. I don’t want to say that Southampton and Leeds are bad teams, but they couldn’t convince me. After my performances I expected more last season. I want to have another season here to see which clubs offer themselves.”
Based on these quotes it would appear that Leeds have dodged a bullet as Painstil clearly thinks very highly of himself, even though at 25-years-old, he has never played above the Belgian league.
At the same time, his numbers in the final third do speak for themselves and he clearly would’ve been an impressive coup had Leeds got it over the line.
Regarding these quotes, they can probably be taken with a pinch of salt as all the signs during the window pointed towards the fact he did want to join Leeds.
Now he has had to stay at Genk, he has probably felt obliged to come out and show their supporters he remains committed to the club.