TalkSPORT football correspondent Alex Crook has revealed that Leeds United are hoping to make £100m from the sale of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips this summer.
Crook was speaking live on air and the radio station’s YouTube channel amid the imminent exit of Phillips and likely departure of his Brazilian teammate.
According to a recent report in The Athletic, Manchester City have reached an agreement with Leeds to sign their English midfielder for £42m with potential bonuses amassing to a further £3m.
Fabrizio Romano claimed that the Whites turned down other lucrative proposals including from PSG as the 26-year-old would only leave his boyhood club to play under Pep Guardiola.
Meanwhile, their Samba star is attracting interest from Barcelona, although their financial struggles could hinder a deal, allowing for Arsenal to come in with a revised bid having seen their opening offer rejected.
Crook is expecting Leeds to accept proposals in the region of £60m for the seven-capped Brazil international, with the Gunners preparing another approach, in order to meet the target they set out at the beginning of the window.
Did Leeds get a fair price for Kalvin Phillips?Yes
No
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(4:28)”Interestingly I was speaking to somebody connected at the club and they said at the start of the summer they were looking for £100m combined for Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha. So that tells me that they’re going to look for nearer £60m for Raphinha. We are hearing in the last hour or so that Arsenal are readying a second bid for him and at the moment they’re the frontrunners because Barcelona, where everybody thought he was going to go, haven’t got the financial resources at the moment to press ahead.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds…
Do you think Raphinha will leave Leeds?
Yes
No
While £100m would afford the Yorkshire club with a significant opportunity to reinvest in their squad replacing arguably their two best players won’t be easy.
Raphinha was instrumental in Leeds’ survival top-scoring for the club with 11 goals including a penalty on the final day in the win against Brentford.
The 25-year-old’s presence was needed while Patrick Bamford struggled with injury while on the other side of the ball Phillips missed 16 matches with a hamstring problem.
The Elland Road outfit lost ten of those games in the Premier League and it is perhaps no surprise that the club found themselves embroiled in a relegation scrap compared to last season when they finished ninth when their midfield enforcer stayed relatively fit.
Despite Victor Orta already bringing in Marc Roca, Rasmus Kristensen and Brenden Aaronson, Jesse Marsch’s side is going to need further arrivals in order to steer clear of danger this time around.