Leeds United under no pressure to compromise over Raphinha as Barcelona move in
Leeds United do not have to do Barcelona “any favours” as the Catalan giants prepare to make their approach for Raphinha formal, says Phil Hay.
La Liga’s runners up were hoping that they could secure the Brazilian star with relative ease in the event that United were relegated.
But last-gasp survival at Burnley’s expense has left the club in a strong position as interest from the Camp Nou is set to be formalised in the “coming days”, Sky Sports reported on Wednesday (25 May).
Following that news, The Athletic’s Phil Hay took to Twitter to set out the club’s position in the face of the incoming approach, saying: “Leeds should stand very firm on Raphinha. No need to compromise on value, no need to do Barcelona any favours, no reason to let anyone else control the situation.
“The club would have been exposed had they gone down but they’re not exposed now.”
Opening salvo
While the 25-year-old would have gone for €25million had the club been relegated, it is now established that there is no release clause in his current contract as long as they are in the Premier League.
And with two years on his deal that means they can hold out for a fee that represents proper value.
Barcelona seem to have used all tricks at their disposal to push for a move, with president Joan Laporta openly expressing his admiration for the winger, and the player’s agent Deco appearing to represent his former club as much his client.
The Sky report reiterated the view that Raphinha himself wants to make the move, and while it is largely accepted he is too good to be playing in a relegation battle that doesn’t mean they have to just hand him over to Barca.
To his credit, he remained fully committed to the fight for top flight status right to the end, and his wild celebrations after the win at Brentford on the final day (22 May) showed his connection to the club.
He surely won’t be happy if he has to wait for the transfer, but the responsibility to get the deal done is very much with the buying club, so it will be very interesting to see where they come in with their opening bid.
Barcelona have well documented financial constraints to overcome, but that is not the Whites’ job to facilitate, and ensuring they get a fair fee could have a major bearing on their ability to avoid a repeat of this season’s nightmare, so they will need to follow Hay’s advice during negotiations.
In other Leeds United news, with Brenden Aaronson incoming the club look to be moving fast to add another target.