Leeds United should not cave to ‘magician’ Raphinha’s Barcelona desires
Raphinha believes that he should be allowed to leave by Leeds United after his efforts to help them survive in the Premier League.
According to The Mirror, the 25-year-old is keen for his current employers to accept a reasonable bid from La Liga giants FC Barcelona to allow him to make the move to Spain in what would be a dream move for him.
Personal terms between the Brazilian, his agent Deco and the Catalan club appear to be virtually settled but the big issue that’s holding this transfer back is the transfer fee.
Understandably, the Whites want to get as much money as they possibly can for Raphinha because he is one of their best players but Barcelona’s unstable financial situation means they are struggling to reach the asking price set by Leeds director of football Victor Orta.
The Elland Road club want £50million for the 25-year-old, who David James branded a “magician” in November [FIFA], but Barcelona can’t afford that much unless they are able to offload other players within their squad.
If we had been asking for £100million or more then Raphinha would have a fair argument to say that we are standing in his way but the price mooted above is not ridiculous in any sense of the word.
Considering that this club spent a similar amount, if not more, on Ferran Torres from Manchester City in January, it would be safe to assume that they could do so again if they really want to sign the Brazilian.
We should not simply wave the white flag to him just because he wants to go there because we need to look after our business and when a player like him is contracted to us, we have every right to keep hold of him unless we see otherwise.
Because we stayed up in the Premier League, the player’s £20million relegation release clause didn’t become active which is what Barcelona were waiting for but now we have the upper hand, we can be stubborn on our asking price and see if they’re willing to break the bank for our main man.
In other Leeds United news, Orta has been given the green light to go bananas in the transfer market this summer.