Raphinha is finally joining Barcelona for £65million after Leeds held their nerve in the torturous transfer talks.
Barcelona finally agreed to meet Leeds’ asking price over the weekend when the Elland Road club made it clear that they would not sell their Brazil star on the cheap. Leeds have had an offer of £60million up front plus £5million in add-ons from Chelsea sitting on their boardroom table for the last fortnight and they told Barcelona they would have to match this.
Barcelona initially thought they could pick up the winger for just £25million, which was the value of his escape clause had Leeds been relegated. But Leeds survived on the final day and the Whites have steadfastly refused to budge on their £60million asking price.
Raphinha has consistently made it clear that Barcelona were his first-choice destination and his agent Deco agreed personal terms at the start of the summer. But Leeds were able to strengthen their hand in the negotiations with the Catalan giants with the bids from Arsenal and then Chelsea. Arsenal’s interest began a bidding war and while Raphinha was never going to move to the Emirates, it did prompt Chelsea to table their £65million package. This put the ball firmly in Barcelona’s court and they must now find a way to finance the Raphinha deal.
Their number one priority will be to sell Frenkie de Jong to Manchester United for an initial fee of £56million and Erik ten Hag is focused on being reunited with his former Ajax star. The major sticking point to the deal, aside from De Jong’s reluctance to leave the Nou Camp for United, is the fact Barca owe the Dutch midfielder £17million in unpaid wages.
Barcelona have renegotiated deals with the likes of Gerard Pique, who is owed even more, to ease the pressure on their stretched finances, and it is understood they believe they can come to an agreement with De Jong. United and Ten Hag also believe they can persuade De Jong to come to Old Trafford because he is no longer wanted at the Nou Camp. Ten Hag will tell him he will be central to his plans at United as he seeks to rebuild the Reds and make them a force again in the Premier League and in Europe.
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Barcelona have also sold off a chunk of their future La Liga TV rights for £230million to generate some funds. Leeds can feel pleased with the Raphinha deal and just 21 months after they bought him from Rennes for a bargain £17million, they are selling him for £65million. This is a real feather in the cap for director of football Victor Orta and combined with the initial £45million payment for Kalvin Phillips, Leeds have generated £110million to fund their own rebuilding job at Elland Road.
They have already bought Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Rasmus Kristensen, Tyler Adams, Darko Gyabi and Luis Sinisterra for a combined £91million with change left over to buy a striker. They are prepared to pay a club record £31.6million for Bruges’ Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere and are pushing hard on this deal. AC Milan also like Ketelaere and the 21-year-old would prefer to move to the San Siro because they can offer him Champions League football. But Milan have so far been unwilling to match Leeds’ offer and Bruges are keen to sell to them.
