Graham Smyth: ‘Very possible’ Raphinha quits Leeds United to join Barcelona
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth admits it’s “very possible” Raphinha will quit Leeds United to join Barcelona in the summer.
However, writing via his personal Twitter account on Tuesday [22 March], Smyth says that Raphinha, 25, won’t be leaving Elland Road for the fees that are currently being “bandied around” in the media.
Marca inexplicably reported earlier on Tuesday that Raphinha’s current market value is £33.2million (€40million).
Bound to happen
Whether or not we stay in the Premier League for a third consecutive season, we think it’ll be a struggle for Leeds to convince Raphinha to stay.
While the Brazilian’s performances have dipped since January when there was speculation about a bid from West Ham [Guardian], there’s no denying that he’s one of the best players at Elland Road and one of the best right-wingers in the Premier League.
He’s a starter for Brazil and has absolutely set the Premier League alight since joining from Rennes for £17million at the start of last season.
Raphinha would walk into most teams in England’s top-flight and would also be a star for some of the biggest and best teams in the Champions League and other top European divisions.
Barcelona have had their issues lately but for some reason, we can see Raphinha playing for the Catalan giants.
They’re in need of quality in their attack after losing Lionel Messi and while we’re not saying Raphinha isn’t as great as the Argentinean legend, he’s certainly better than some of the options they have at the Nou Camp now.
As long as Leeds get a lot of money, we can cope with losing Raphinha as that money can – and should be – reinvested wisely into the squad.
We’d much rather see him go than Kalvin Phillips.
In other Leeds United news, four senior players have been named when a journalist was asked about summer exits.