Barcelona’s ridiculous demand to Leeds United during Raphinha negotiations

There are several ways to interpret Barcelona’s financial crisis, especially after they have activated three ‘financial levers’, bringing in upwards of €600 million. That puts their long-term future at risk, but should, ideally, help them achieve short-term success.

One of the players they pursued with their fresh cash was Leeds United’s Raphinha. Barça paid €58 million plus add-ons for the Brazilian, who has since completed his dream of playing for the Catalan giants.

However, according to The Athletic, the transfer was far from straightforward.

Leeds had already agreed on a fee with Chelsea, but the player and Deco decided to stall the deal in an attempt to bring Barcelona into the equation. The Blaugranas could not match the Blues’ offer, but did ask the Peacocks for a ridiculous favour.

They asked Leeds to confirm the transfer in the summer itself, but knew that they would face complications in the registration process. And therefore, Barcelona requested that Leeds wait until January to process the transfer and receive the cash then.

However, the Premier League outfit did not comply, and instead insisted that most of the money be paid upfront. Moreover, they included a penalty clause in the contract that stipulated that Barcelona will have to pay a €10 million penalty if they fail to meet that deadline.

The Athletic also claims that one chief executive of a La Liga club has told them that, “his team would indisputably be injecting penalty clauses into any sales to Barcelona, such is the concern over the Catalans’ long-term ability to pay instalments”.

Fortunately, Barcelona’s ludicrous demand did not see the light of the day. It would have set a very poor precedent for football.

As for player registrations, Joan Laporta has ensured the media time and again that they are, in fact, on the right path to officially enrol Raphinha, along with Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, Pablo Torre, Jules Kounde, and Franck Kessie in the squad for next season.