Barcelona still owe £32.9m following Leeds United, Raphinha transfer agreement in 2022 – Report – Leeds All Over 10/10/23
Kris Smith
Leeds United are reportedly still owed around €38million
from Barcelona over the transfer of Raphinha in the summer of 2022.
Leeds were playing with fire through their lack of
investment after finishing their first season back in the Premier League in
ninth, failing to invest properly in a side that looked threadbare even at the
best of times.
In 22/23, Leeds’ attempts to stay in the top flight weren’t
helped by the sales of both Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, the latter being a
£55million transfer to Barcelona – a club record sale.
How is Raphinha getting on?
His first season in La Liga with the European giants was up
and down but he still managed to show his quality with 10 goals and 12 assists
in all competitions.
This season he’s off the mark with two goals and three
assists in La Liga and the Champions League, aiming to help manager Xavi
restore Barcelona back to their previous powerhouse standing.
The transfer came about in bizarre circumstances as Leeds
agreed a fee with Chelsea of up to £65million, of course £10million more than
he left for – as Raphinha and his agent Deco pushed hard for a Nou Camp
transfer, Deco now on the board at Barcelona as sporting director.
Barcelona’s transfers in the summer of 2022 came as a major
surprise given well-documented financial problems, relieved by activating
economic levers to allow them to spend big a year ago.
What’s the latest?
A report from Catalan outlet Ara now claim that the Spanish
giants still owe hundreds of millions in transfer fees across Europe, including
Raphinha’s move from Leeds.
It is claimed that around €38million (£32.86m) is still owed
for the Brazilian, with £20.75million of that being described as a “short-term”
debt, indicating it will need to be paid soon by the club, after they required
a bank to front the debt with Leeds:
“In the case of Leeds, Barça still owes him so much money
that the English entity factored its right to collect through a financial
institution. This basically means that it is a bank that advances the amount in
exchange for interest.”
It’s incredible that we were essentially spending very
little in the summer of 2021 over concerns around financial rules, but elite
clubs like Barcelona can find any loophole they like to spend big.
These rules are so unfairly exploited by the top clubs that
there remains no way of them being adequately punished in the way others do.
Such lavish spending while failing in Europe is going to
catch up with the La Liga giants soon if they aren’t careful, which they aren’t
being.
