Journalist Fabrizio Romano has been discussing Leeds United’s Raphinha and a potential transfer away from the club.
The Leeds ace is a very wanted man right now, with it looking all the more likely that he will leave the club in the summer.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool have all been linked with signing him in recent months, with the Catalans appearing to be the frontrunners at this point. But whoever does end up signing him, it sounds as if they are really going to have to fork out the money in order to make it happen.
Speaking on the latest edition of Here We Go, Romano revealed some of the details surrounding his release clause, and claimed that the only clause that was still active for the Brazilian would kick in if they were relegated from the Premier League – something that remains a possibility as things stand right now.
He said: “I wanted to clarify one thing, because after checking, the information I received is that the only release clause in the contract of Raphinha with Leeds is in case they will get relegated and it’s £25m.
“But the Premier League release clause is no longer valid, the €75m release clause is not valid. So, the only way for Barcelona to trigger a clause is in case Leeds will go into the Championship.
“If not, if Leeds will stay in the Premier League, for Raphinha, the negotiation has to be between the two clubs. So there is no clause available, this is an important point.
“And on the player’s side, the player will be happy to join Barcelona. From what I’m told, the contract is not an issue. They are discussing about the salary, they are discussing about details. So Raphinha would be happy to join Barca. But between clubs, there is still no negotiation, Leeds have no proposal from Barcelona, and they know that Barcelona will enter into details in the coming months.”
TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments about Raphinha and Leeds United…
Would you sell Raphina this summer?
Yes
No
So unless Leeds United get relegated – which is looking unlikely at the moment, with statistical data site FiveThirtyEight only giving them a 23% chance of the drop – and they do decide to sell the 25-year-old, it sounds as if it won’t be for the rather low sum of £25m.
This should at least make Leeds United fans happy, because whilst they may face the prospect of losing someone who not only leads the team with nine goals so far this season, but also leads them in shots, key passes, dribbles and crosses per game (as per WhoScored), at least they know that they won’t be getting fleeced for such a key player.
They look set to get a really decent fee for him if they do decide to let him go, and judging by Romano’s comments, he appears more than willing to leave, so at least that will give them comfort when it comes to trying to find a replacement for him in the summer.
In other news: Unreal: Leeds may have another star on their hands as footage of 17 y/o emerges – opinion