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.

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