Conor McGilligan has delivered his verdict on the price of Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, who look likely to depart Elland Road this summer.
Phillips is reportedly off to Manchester City, while Raphinha has been attracting the interest of several European clubs, The price that City have paid is in the region of £45-50m, according to Sky Sports. Meanwhile, the price set for Raphinha is £60m, according to Fabrizio Romano.
McGilligan believes that Leeds are being underpaid for both players, taking to Twitter to say: “Can’t comprehend getting a combined value of less than £100m for Kalv and Raph. Feels like chump change, especially on the Raph side. Clearly the club feel (if accepted) they can work with the offer from Barca.”
The Raphinha transfer saga has taken many twists and turns this summer, with Arsenal, Chelsea, and Barcelona all appearing to be in pole position at various stages of the window. According to Romano, as of right now, Leeds have only accepted Chelsea’s £60m bid, although it is worth mentioning that Barcelona also submitted a bid of €50m (£43.1m) plus €10m (£8.6m) in add-ons last week.
With so much time to go in the summer transfer window, Raphinha’s destination is anyone’s guess at this stage, such have been the many twists in the saga.
TIF Thoughts on Conor McGilligan’s Comments…
We’d have to disagree with McGilligan. The reported price for Kalvin Phillips – a defensive midfielder who has never played Champions League football – is a fair one in our opinion. The same can be said for Raphinha, too. In the current market, both prices are arguably as expected.
It’s now up to Leeds to spend the money wisely, if both deals go through, and improve their squad ahead of next season. Jesse Marsch will be hoping to endure a far more comfortable campaign and avoid being sucked into the dreaded relegation scrap.