Barcelona's Raphinha nightmare could be a Leeds United dream as Joan Laporta addresses Deco role - YEP 29/3/22
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has openly admitted they are tracking Leeds United star Raphinha but insists the club is not paying the player's agent Deco.
By Graham Smyth
In an interview with RAC1, Laporta was only too happy to
mention the Brazilian winger as he discussed potential summer transfer business
at Camp Nou.
Barcelona, he says, consider Raphinha to be a 'great' player
after almost two seasons in the Premier League. Raphinha scored six times in
the English top flight in his first campaign and has nine goals to his name so
far this season, making him Leeds' star man and a regular for Tite's Brazil.
He is contracted to the summer of 2024 and, contrary to
reports elsewhere, has no buy-out clause in his current deal if Leeds stay in
the Premier League, so a huge fee will be required to prise him from Elland
Road. If they were to suffer relegation, which looks unlikely after their last
two wins pushed them seven points clear of the drop zone, he would of course be
among those expected to leave in order to balance the books.
Liverpool were heavily linked with the 25-year-old last
summer, although they never made an offer, and Bayern Munich were said to be
keen on Raphinha in January but again did not make their interest known to
Leeds.
Barcelona are the first club to openly discuss their
admiration of the Leeds dangerman and Deco's proximity to his former club is
thought to play strongly in their favour. The 75-cap Portugal legend was
reported to have taken on a South American scouting role for Barcelona, but
Laporta has stressed that it is not a paid role.
"We have two signings lined up, maybe a centre-back and
a midfielder, yes. It could be a central defender and a midfielder, yes,"
Laporta told RAC1.
"Raphinha, on the other hand, is a great player. We
have good reports on him. Deco has his job and informs us of details so we
don't make mistakes. And in some cases he has helped us a lot. I want to
clarify that Deco's not paid by the club. He will just help us because he
dominates the Brazilian market".
Barcelona, however, are not the only European giant who
could offer Raphinha Champions League football and 2022/23 title aspirations in
one of the 'big five' leagues, and they are not the only club interested in
making him a summer addition. Although much of the talk around a possible
Barcelona move has revolved around personal terms and discussions between the
Spanish club and Deco, there is no sense at the Leeds end that a deal has been
done. Barcelona are yet to make an official offer and talks have not yet begun,
leaving plenty of room for others to enter the conversation and pip them to the
post in what would now be their nightmare scenario, given Laporta's declaration
of interest and the volume of noise around a possible deal. A bidding war would
be a dream scenario for Leeds, though, who have no intention of selling the
player on the cheap and believe they can command an eye-watering sum. It would
also benefit Raphinha, guaranteeing options and the best possible salary.
A summer departure does look likely, although Leeds' offer
of a new contract will remain on the table.
In the meantime, Raphinha will be back in training this week
after a period of isolation having tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the
win over Wolves. His attitude towards training has not changed during the
speculation over his future and the club believe he is fully engaged in the
relegation fight with eight huge games remaining, starting with the visit of
Southampton on Saturday. Patrick Bamford's renewed problem with a foot injury
will once again place enormous responsibility on the winger as Leeds seek the
two wins that would likely guarantee safety.