The transfer saga of Raphinha’s move from Leeds United to Barcelona was one of the most drawn out of the summer so far. Having said that, it feels as though that has been the case for all of their major signings in the window, with Robert Lewandowski’s move from Bayern Munich and Jules Kounde’s switch from Sevilla equally as drawn out.
And based on a report from the Athletic on Wednesday morning, it is no surprise a deal took so long given some of the discussions that took place during the negotiations. Registering signings has been one of Barcelona’s biggest difficulties in the last 12 months and that could be no different in the coming weeks either.
The Athletic claim that while Barcelona are hopeful they will be able to register all of their new signings thanks to the sale of some of their TV rights, they may have to wait until the end of the window when some of their fringe players have moved on. As a result of that, Barcelona are said to have asked Leeds during discussions over Raphinha’s transfer whether they could ‘legally agree’ the deal this summer, but wait until January to officially process it.
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Of course, given Leeds’ need to bring in players of their own, this was swiftly turned down and the onus was instead placed on Barcelona as the Whites demanded the majority of the transfer fee was paid up front.
Leeds have also placed a €10 million penalty clause into the deal if Barcelona fail to pay and of their instalments on time. While some Leeds fans were disappointed with the fee that was received for Raphinha, those things that have been inserted into the deal mean Victor Orta and co have done the best they possibly can given who they were negotiating with.
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