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“First instalment” – Graham Smyth shares collective view of imminent offer for Leeds United’s Raphinha

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Barcelona are reportedly preparing an offer of €30million plus add-ons for Leeds United’s Raphinha, and it’s gone down exactly as you’d expect.

We’re heading into a very hectic time of the year when it comes to Leeds’ transfer activity, and after survival from relegation, there is going to be a lot of movement at the club.

Raphinha’s proposed exit is the biggest talking point in terms of outgoings right now.

Barcelona’s interest in the Brazilian is no secret, with reports from Spain emerging almost every day claiming something new has happened, while it’s very quiet from Leeds’ end of things..

It’s likely that Raphinha will be in the colours of Barcelona by the start of the 2022/23 campaign, but survival means Leeds don’t have to let him go for cheap.

Is Raphinha good enough to play for Barcelona?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Their bargaining power has increased tremendously thanks to his contributions in the win over Brentford, and means any derisory offers will be laughed off.

That is including a reported offer emerging, via journalist Pedro Almeida, of €30million and €5million in add-ons.

The reaction to such an offer is two-fold: either it’s fictional, or it’s completely insulting.

The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth shared his brief thoughts on whether Leeds would be considering this offer:

Double it and we might just pick up the phone to discuss this transfer.

That is the sort of fee we would be dealing with if we were relegated to the Championship, but we didn’t, so we can forget about that.

Leeds have no reason to accept anything other than the best offer for him, because we’re not under any pressure now to sell him this summer.

I still expect him to leave, but we’re playing hard ball and Barcelona simply have to pay what we want, or they can take their terrible offers elsewhere.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.