Leeds have managed to steady the ship remarkably well this season, given what came to light after the club were relegated from the Premier League in May 2023.
The previous regime’s decision to include relegation release clauses in players’ contracts meant the club were not able to bring in the fees they wanted too for key outgoings – other than a few sales.
Deco: Raphinha had £17.1m relegation release clause at Leeds
Raphinha’s sale in the summer of 2022 was a foregone conclusion, and not a single Leeds was begrudged him leaving, given he was virtually the sole reason Leeds were living to fight another day in the Premier League.
He joined Barcelona for £55million, but sporting director Deco (his agent at the time) has revealed that the Brazilian had a release clause in his contract if the Whites were relegated.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Deco said:
“Actually, I didn’t push hard. You know, club presidents don’t usually tell the whole story. Raphinha was very serious and professional with Leeds.
“He had a clause that if they were relegated, his price would drop to €20m (£17.1m), and he was the best player when Leeds needed him most – he ran the most, worked the hardest, and I, as his agent, would be incapable of influencing any player for my own benefit.
“Leeds wanted to sell Raphinha. Then bids came in, even bigger than Barcelona’s. The owner of Chelsea [Todd Boehly] called me and insisted a lot, putting pressure on me – he really wanted to sign Raphinha. But I didn’t push hard for Raphinha to leave Leeds. It was all by mutual agreement.”
Radrizzani and Orta could have cost Leeds a whole more if relegation came sooner
It’s fair to say that the damage done by the previous regime of Andrea Radrizzani and co was something that the 49ers have found difficult to clean up right away – as much as they have done very well.
If Leeds had not got that win at Brentford and were out of the Premier League in 21/22, the chaos that would have ensued is a great deal worse than what we actually faced.
Not only would we have seen all these players leave for nothing on loan, but the real saleable assets in the club, Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, would have been sold for peanuts.
Raphinha would go from a £55million player (should have been more anyway) to a £17million one, which is a price cut of £38million- a staggering release clause for a player of his calibre.
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