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Sky TV director makes direct plea to Raphinha to stay at Leeds United during Watford win
The Sky TV director for the Leeds United v Watford game made a direct plea for Raphinha to stay at the club according to commentator John Roder.
The Brazilian opened the scoring in the 3-0 win at Vicarage Road before being replaced late on by Crysencio Summerville, with the club sharing footage yesterday (April 10) of him wearing headphones on the bench and reacting with a wave while on screen.
Match of the Day man Roder has explained that the Sky director was speaking to the 25-year-old and asked him to wave while the cameras were on him, before adding the request that he stay at the club.
He wrote on his Twitter page: “The Sky TV director at Watford is a huge Leeds United fan, I’ve known him for +25 years, so when Raphinha put the reporters headphones on near full time Phil spoke via the talkback & asked for a wave!
“Also asked Raphinha to stay at Elland Road, no news on that yet….”
Barcelona have been chasing the Whites star and UOL Sport recently reported that Deco had travelled to the city last week to push through a contract agreement.
Can’t hurt
The longer the club can keep hold of their star winger the longer they will benefit from the kind of display he put on at the weekend.
His wonderful opener saw him send Ben Foster the wrong way as he arrowed a long-range shot in off the near post.
In what was a surprisingly tough game at Watford, the goal gave United a valuable platform to defend.
With the president at the Camp Nou Joan Laporta apparently set on bringing him to the club, despite who it might upset there, the pressure seems unlikely to let up.
But the player cannot fail to see how highly he is valued at Elland Road and among the fans.
He surely will move on at some point, but the hope remains that it will be later rather than sooner, and for a hefty fee.
In other Leeds United news, Times chief football writer Henry Winter has hailed the £1.5million “smart investment” that is paying off now.