Raphinha

[Cjay]

And joining Barcelona as a Brazilian is a dream.

To follow in the footsteps of many Brazilian football greats over the last 20,30 years is a massive draw for any Brazilian.

Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Neymar.

Basically the 5 best Brazilian attacking players of the last 30 years.

Raphinha has already said his idol is Ronaldinho.

Combine that with Deco who is on record as saying he didn't enjoy Chelsea or London but loved Barcelona.

The reasons for Raph wanting to join them.is obvious

[danhirons]

Fair enough - but for me still doesn't make a huge amount of sense. He could easily wait two more years and move there then when they're hopefully in a bit better shape.

Right now you move there to a team that has no chance of anything for a while, Madrid and barca have some of the most fickle fans around (booing players etc) and likely not a great wage. For me anyway a transfer should mainly be driven by maximising your earning potential, enhancing your career or to win things, not some desire to play at the nou camp or to follow your idol

[Jimang]

I can see this turning nasty, we are obviously being held ransome by Baca, Deco and Raph. I wonder if the same will happen with B Silva and Man City, as I have heard Baca want him on the cheap too. Agree with consensus, either pay the same as Chelsea, and all upfront no installments, or we say we are not dealing with Baca and player can see out his contract

[mentalcase]

Ive said all along we ought to keep him at least till January where his stock will rise even more, and it will, unless he gets a leg breaker in t'world cup, f**k barcelona and the horse they rode in on, we owe them, deco and raphinha nothing, absolutely nothing.
We lose very very little (£17M) in todays over inflated prices in 2 yrs anyway, whats the worst that can happen !!
In January the big boys will be circling like vultures to sign him, also for a more realistic price of around the £100 million mark, up to LUFC to play hardball bigtime.
Btw, are we really that skint !! I think we can still afford to pay his wages as he's our player already, TV money etc will cover that, no, we have absolutely no need to let him go at this stage, keeping hold of him will show him, his w**ker of an agent and any other team we mean business.
It will also impress on other big players to come here and build the team round him.

[Jimang]

Couldn't have put it better myself mental.

[BobHirst]

Plus, you get to live in Barcelona with a near unlimited supply of money.

It reminds me of that scene in "Life of Brian".
But what have the Romans ever done for us........

[Irish Ian]

Irrigation, sanitation, it was never safe walking the streets... Etc.

[Byebyegeegee]

Plus, you get to live in Barcelona with a near unlimited supply of money.

He’ll need an unlimited supply of money too - Barcelona is full of pickpockets!

[Kennyb41]

I'm agreeing with Mental on this, if he doesn't have to go because of money - play hardball we need him until at least January, and i agree, a good WC could see his value increase substantially.

KEEP A HOLD OF HIM YA STOOGE PRICKS AND START TO RUN THE CLUB LIKE A BUSINESS AND NOT A FCKING CIRCUS, PULL YA PANTS UP AND STOP GETTING ARSE RAPED YA DUMB FCKS !!!

Andddddddddddd relaxxxxxxxxxx, deep breaths.

[Kennyb41]

KP is not a loss, this Roca guy will be better.

If we get 1 more that suits big Jesses style and keep Raph, it's got me feeling all optimistic that it might just work, the players we're signing look to me like we're going on the attack, which will suit our numpties at the back, get Firpo forward and the new Rasmus and we might just have a chance, if we're going all Yankball we might as well get that Adams guy in then it's 4 of Jesses ex players that he knows, it's the best way to go if it's gonna work.

Whether it will work or not is another matter, but it's the right way to go, get the players in he knows and keep hold of Raph, hardball, he's gonna have to knuckle down anyway and can't sulk coz WC coming.

[Cjay]

Spanish media reporting that Raphinha has refused to take part in our pre season preparations as he tries to force a move to Barcelona.

This should be taken with a pinch of salt as the report is from Marca who run propaganda for Barcelona.

If this is the case then it will ruin the good will Raph has built up.

Genuinely hope it isn't true.

[RobbieLeeds]

If it’s Marca then it’s a handful of salt, however if it was Phil Hay or someone connected to us I’d be worried

[Cjay]

As an alternative.

UOL Brazil who are an extremely large Brazilian media outlet are reporting that Raphinha is conscious that moving to a new club and the adaption process should he struggle to adapt immediately could impact his chances of getting/retaining his role in the Brazil squad.

He wants to play at a higher level as his teammates are in Brazil (players playing for bigger clubs in European competitions etc).

But the chances of him staying with us is "treated as a reality". And should nothing change between now and us flying to Australia then he will he on the plane.

[Carrick Dave]

The most tiresome element in this whole boring saga is the blatant daily Barca propaganda from Marca and Sport.

Suggested elsewhere today that Chelscum are now ready to pull the plug. As we now need the money to fund the Sinisterra deal, Barca can low-ball us and we’re screwed, still looking to pay £42m apparently.

I’d get Orta to tell Barcelona, Deco and Raphinha in a Teams meeting that we won’t sell him to them ever, and then Orta could show them his arse to seal the deal.

Raphinha could play for his WC place or rot in the reserves till January.

[BlackHillsPaul]

Spanish media reporting that Raphinha has refused to take part in our pre season preparations as he tries to force a move to Barcelona.

This should be taken with a pinch of salt as the report is from Marca who run propaganda for Barcelona.

If this is the case then it will ruin the good will Raph has built up.

Genuinely hope it isn't true.

The club will need to make a strong stand here. They do have leverage. I would give Raphinha until Monday to report for training. If he doesn't turn up then Management should make it very clear. We have an agreed deal with Chelsea. Go negotiate personal terms with them if you want to leave. Or sit out the first half of the season putting your WC chances in jeopardy.

Leeds supporters would need to buy into that. Unless we want to continue to get rolled by the big clubs in negotiations we can't get all wobbly...

[Carrick Dave]

The club will need to make a strong stand here. They do have leverage. I would give Raphinha until Monday to report for training. If he doesn't turn up then Management should make it very clear. We have an agreed deal with Chelsea. Go negotiate personal terms with them if you want to leave. Or sit out the first half of the season putting your WC chances in jeopardy.

Leeds supporters would need to buy into that. Unless we want to continue to get rolled by the big clubs in negotiations we can't get all wobbly...

Orta should tell Deco that if Barca can’t match the Chelsea offer he’s quite at liberty to make up the shortfall from his own pocket, you wouldn’t see him for dust.

[Victor_OTT_17]

Orta should tell Deco/Barca to get fkd and we should tell Raph that we have an agreement with Chelsea so he has to sign for them asap...

[VinnysTattoo]

It almost like just because Barca didn’t get their knockdown relegation price they are trying every trick in the book.

Spanish media are obviously in Barca’s back pocket.

[Overman]

He's been a very naughty boy.

[Lumiukko]

I honestly would not be surprised if Raphinha was told by Deco to stay/be in Spain. For the god of Raphinha's career and reputation he needs to start thinking for himself, because clearly Deco is not giving him good advice. All agents are selfish feckers but Deco's also being employed by Barca stinks.