Leeds United may receive as little as £41m from Barcelona for Raphinha as new figures emerge
The deal that took Leeds United star Raphinha to Barcelona at long last may be far less lucrative than first thought, according to MARCA.
It was believed that fixed up-front fee of £50million had finally been secured from the Camp Nou, with £5million more available in add-ons, plus a last-minute penalty clause added in to protect against late payment [Leeds Live].
Chelsea had offered £60million up front for the Brazilian star, which United wanted to take, but the player wanted the La Liga move all along, and finally got it after an increasingly torturous saga.
But according to MARCA and Radio MARCA in Spain, new figures have come to light which show the deal was only worth €48million (£41million) up front, with €12million (£10.25million) in variables.
In addition the report says that the majority of the added value will only come if Xavi’s side wins the Champions League, otherwise the final fee will remain close to the fixed value.
Surely not
If this was what the final deal was going to up being then why would Leeds have bothered to hold out for so long?
While there was little joy at seeing the 25-year-old leave Elland Road, especially after the endless attempts to bring the price down from Barcelona, it was at least accepted that he was likely to go and big money came in.
Even the fee that was widely reported wasn’t as high as many would have hoped for the Brazil international, and while Chelsea’s bid was generally better there was an acceptance that if he went to Spain he wouldn’t be lining up against United.
But if the fee is as low as as these new figures suggest it would mean the club were given the run around for weeks and ultimately fleeced for well below market value.
It is not impossible that Barca manage to lift the top European trophy, but it is understandably far from a given considering the quality of the teams involved and the unpredictable nature of the competition.
Either this new report is simply wrong, or the Whites were forced to capitulate to the pressure they were put under by Deco, and by extension Joan Laporta, and accept a fee not much greater than the insulting price they always wanted to pay.
Short of being compelled to produce documents to prove it there seems little chance that United would even want to admit to taking a lower fee, so fans will have to hope the most recent numbers are a mistake by a Real Madrid-leaning paper [Sports Illustrated].
In other Leeds United news, the club are ready and waiting to complete a €25million striker signing with a European giant needing to move the player on.