'A priority' - £55m ex-Leeds United star reveals he was 'very clear' on his desire to leave Elland Road
This former Leeds United superstar is now enjoying some of the best football of his career.
Former Leeds United star Raphinha has been in the headlines recently as he continues his superb run of form with Barcelona. In the space of six days, the Brazilian contributed four goals and three assists across La Liga and Champions League performances.
Raphinha set up two goals against Sevilla on October 20th, followed by a hat-trick performance in Europe in their 4-1 win over Bayern Munich. Barca’s latest 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid saw the versatile playmaker notch another goal and an assist.
Raphinha made the £55 million move to Spain in 2022 and he is now enjoying some of the most influential football of his career. Despite some uncertain periods of his time with Barcelona, the 27-year-old is now completely settled and is reaping the rewards of his efforts with Barca.
He recently shed some light on his burning desire to join the Blaugrana, even with other clubs showing interest in him during his time with Leeds. During his last season at Elland Road, Raphinha contributed 11 goals and three assists in the Premier League before his departure.
“They wanted to buy me, but there was no fair play [room in the budget]. But there was the option. While there were options, my priority was Barca. I was very clear with all the clubs that summer,” Raphinha told YouTube channel Losimplenovale (h/t Sport Witness).
“I always told Deco that Barca was a priority, perhaps because of seeing the Brazilians succeed there I had a special affection for them. Deco told me that Barca was interested when I was going to leave Leeds United.”
Earlier this week, finance expert Stefan Borson shed some extra light on Raphinha’s move to Barcelona and discussed Barcelona still owing in excess of £35 million towards the initial signing fee. However, despite them still due to pay a considerable amount of money for their signing of the Brazilian, it’s not something that has impacted Leeds’ finances.
The Whites have ‘already received the money from a finance company’ as part of their initial deal. Borson has explained that delaying pay is ‘common’ when it comes to player transfers but Barcelona’s extent is not a typical occurrence.
“If you look at a player that was signed at the end of that season in Raphinha, they don’t really start paying Raphinha’s fee to Leeds until the year commencing 30 June 2025. They only pay €560,000 (£466,000) in the year now from 30 June 2024 to 30 June 2025, whereas next year they owe €42million (£35million),” he told Football Insider.
“Leeds don’t care because Leeds have factored their right to collect that money to a finance company, which effectively means Leeds got the money upfront and it’s the finance companies’ receivable from Barcelona to worry about. Leeds have got their money, but it just shows that Barcelona wanted these players but couldn’t pay for them, so they had to push out the obligation to move the payment as far as possible.”