Phil Hay: Raphinha among low earners at Leeds United, can’t force his way out
Raphinha is a low-earner at Leeds United but can’t force his way out of Elland Road with summer bids on the cards, according to Phil Hay.
Raphinha, 25, has been the star of the show at Elland Road since the Whites returned to the Premier League and has understandably been linked with top clubs across England and Europe.
Goal reported earlier this week that Raphinha has snubbed contract talks with Leeds but Hay has cast doubt upon that and claims it’s likely he’ll want to earn more money until he does eventually leave the club.
“He’s on a pretty low wage at Leeds. I’ve said previously that he’s not the highest earner or close to it because the deal, as it was done when he came from Rennes, wasn’t particularly expensive by Premier League standards,” said Hay on the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show podcast.
“It would make sense in the meantime for him to earn more personally.
“He is under contract so he can’t force his way out.
“But I think everybody’s realistic about the fact that clubs are going to start bidding for him in quite a big way at some stage.
“Ideally, if he stays beyond the World Cup, you have the potential for his valuation to go up significantly. But because it’s mid-season this time around, who knows what he’s going to be thinking and who knows what’s going to happen on that front?
“Who knows if Leeds can get through next summer without actually having to sell one of the players who’s worth a considerable amount of money?”
Final year at Leeds?
If Raphinha doesn’t leave Leeds in the summer then there’s a good chance he will next January once the World Cup is over.
Brazil have qualified with ease for Qatar 2022 and Raphinha played a major role in their qualification.
There’s a very, very good chance that he’ll be in the squad and he may decide to stay at Leeds because he’s got in the Brazil squad time and time again while playing for the Whites.
That will obviously change if relegation happens – but we doubt that will happen. And it could change if a club comes in, makes a huge bid, offers him massive money and promises him a spot in their starting line-up.
Leeds might be better off holding out until January 2023 because they’ll be able to ask for more money due to the January premium and he’ll have had World Cup appearances under his belt.
Raphinha is a very good player and deserves to be on very good money so let’s hope a new contract is sorted so he can get what he should have and bump up what we could sell him for.
In other Leeds United news, one player is expected to be axed for the clash against Manchester United after Bielsa’s update on Friday.