Leeds United's £10m transfer windfall hopes dashed after 7-goal Champions League thriller

Leeds United’s hope of landing a reported eight-figure cash windfall ended last night after Barcelona’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Inter Milan.

Inter emerged victorious from a dramatic semi-final second-leg that ended 4-3 after extra-time, with the Italian side progressing to the final via an incredible 7-6 aggregate scoreline. In a near mirror image of the first-leg at Camp Nou a week ago, Barcelona went 2-0 down before fighting back to draw level, with Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo on target.

Former Leeds favourite Raphinha then looked to have produced another match-winning goal on 87 minutes but his volleyed effort was cancelled out by 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi deep into added-time. Davide Frattesi then made it 4-3 on the night and 7-6 on aggregate in extra-time to kill off Barcelona’s hope of a Champions League final.

A heartbroken Raphinha was virtually motionless on the San Siro pitch after full-time, with some Inter players and Barcelona manager Hansi Flick picking him up off the floor to console him. The Brazilian equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 21 goal involvements in one Champions League campaign but will be devastated not to have a shot at European glory.

Leeds United’s £10m windfall hopes dashed after Barcelona Champions League exit

And Leeds might well have been left disappointed too, if reports surrounding bonus clauses in their sale of Raphinha to Barcelona are true. The winger moved from Elland Road to Camp Nou back in the summer of 2022 for a fee believed to be around £55million, signing a five-year deal.

As with the vast majority of transfers, there was no official detail on how that fee would be broken down but Spanish newspaper Marca claimed around £10m would be due in West Yorkshire if Barcelona won the Champions League while Raphinha was still under contract. It’s not fully clear if that was the case but such clauses, relating to major team and individual honours, are relatively common in deals for top-class players.

Raphinha has already claimed one trophy this season, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid in last month’s Copa del Rey final, and the Catalan side are currently top of La Liga, four points clear of Los Blancos with just four games remaining. But a historic treble can no longer happen and that could dent the much-loved former Leeds man’s Ballon d’Or hopes.

“My head is not thinking about the Ballon d’Or,” Raphinha told CBS Sports, as translated by presenter Kate Scott last month. “I want to win everything I can for Barcelona, that’s the most important thing for me. The goal I have is to win titles, and with titles, individual titles will come. But the most important thing for me is to win prizes with this shirt, which has been my dream since I was young.”

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