Leeds United warn Barcelona, give them a deadline to pay for Raphinha

Barcelona‘s activity in this transfer window has made a lot of noise in world soccer. Only a year after losing Lionel Messi while facing severe debt, the La Liga giants have made a splash ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Despite their well-known financial crisis, the Cules are among the top spenders this summer. Having forked out €153 million, only Chelsea have spent more than them (€186.59 million). While it’s not a surprise to see the Blues atop the list, it is quite shocking to see Barcelona in this position.

Curiously, Raphinha and othershave snubbed the Premier League side in favor of a Camp Nou move. However, it seems thatLeeds United never wanted to sell him to the financially weakenedBarca in their first place, and they even sent out a warning to the Spanish club.

Leeds set deadline for Barcelona to pay for Raphinha

“I don’t know about behind the scenes and how they [Barcelona] suddenly found the money and now it works, it’s not clear,” Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani toldDavid Ornstein of The Athletic.

In the interview, Radrizzani revealed that their idea was neverto sell Raphinha to Barcelona, as they didn’t trust they could afford him. Instead, they were ready to send him to Chelsea as the Brazilian also looked willing to join the Blues. But Barcaconvinced the player to stall, eventually giving Leeds no option but to accept their bid.

“We could not deal with Barcelona, as they were not in a position to negotiate. So we made a deal with Chelsea. Raphinha wanted to go, and was open to listening to offers from the Premier League, and Chelsea were in a favorable position,” he continued.

“Barcelona influenced and convinced the player to wait, wait, and wait until they could find the solutions. Unfortunately, it shows the power and the leverage the players and their agents have in the system, which is I think is exaggerated. It’s too much.

“For me, it was done, and when I have a deal my word is my word.I felt ashamed to go back to Todd Boehly and change our position. It was really, for me, disrespectful and not the right thing to do, but I did not have a choice.”

Thought the deal is already done, Leeds haven’t changed their stance. They are still skeptical that Barcelona can pay, which is why Radrizzani set a deadlineto receive the money for Raphinha.“I’ll tell you on September 2,” he said.“If not, we will have a ‘global case’ on all media in the world against Barcelona.”