Journalist Julien Laurens has been blown away by the price tag for Leeds United winger Raphinha, with a potential move to Barcelona being rumoured.
There have been reports stating Raphinha has attracted serious interest from Barcelona in the summer transfer window despite Leeds remaining in the Premier League after a dramatic final day of the campaign as they beat Brentford to secure top-flight status for next season.
Raphinha was one of the main men for Leeds last term in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals and registering three assists, becoming the club’s top scorer in the process.
Despite that, Laurens claimed on The Gab & Juls Show that he was shocked at the price tag set by the club due to his lack of experience playing at the top level.
He said: “It’s around the £60m mark, which is a lot of money for any player, especially for a player like Raphinha, who has never played in the Champions League or the Europa League or any European competition before; who has a little experience with Brazil at international level, but again, has never taken part in a big tournament, things like that – and who has just come out of a disappointing season, even with his numbers. He was very important for Leeds in a struggling season, but he was not at his best completely, either.
“Good luck to Leeds if they really want the £60m or £55m.”
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TIF Thoughts on Laurens’ comments…
Raphinha has been the star man for Leeds in attack this season when looking at the stats, as he was the club’s top goal contributor (14), he created the most big chances (10) and he had the most successful dribbles per game (1.8), as per SofaScore.
With the Brazilian’s stats last term, Jesse Marsch is likely to be keen to keep him at the club, so setting the price tag so high for him either means it will scare clubs away from the idea of signing him, or they will acquire a large sum to invest in the rest of the squad.