Former Premier League manager Paul Jewell believes that Marcelo Bielsa wouldn’t stop Raphinha from leaving Leeds this summer if the price is right.
The Brazilian has taken the Premier League by storm this season following his move from Rennes 12 months ago, scoring six times and adding nine assists, which was more than both Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander Arnold, the last of which came against West Brom on the final day.
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And Raphinha’s brilliant form has attracted the attention of Liverpool, who need to add some firepower to their front line to challenge Manchester City next season.
A move away from Elland Road would appear extremely unlikely given how recently Raphinha made the switch to England, but Jewell refused to rule anything out.
He exclusively told This is Futbol:
“Any player can leave any club; Messi wants to leave Barcelona. Wanting to leave and being allowed to leave are different things.
“I don’t know the politics of Leeds and how much they value him, but he’s been very good.”
Having signed for Leeds for around £17m from the French outfit, with more than three years remaining on his contract, the Reds would have to pay significantly more than that fee to prize the winger away from Elland Road.
But Jewell said that Bielsa isn’t the type of manager to keep players that don’t want to be there.
He added:
“Bielsa looks at it, from what I hear, if someone doesn’t want to be there, and I’m not saying Raphinha doesn’t want to, but I imagine he’s the type that if you don’t want to be here, as long as we get the going rate, you can go.”