La Liga giants Barcelona were willing to pay £50 million for Rodrigo Moreno before the Spain international moved to the Premier League with Leeds United, Valencia president Anil Murthy says in quotes reported by Super Deporte.
The groans were as angry as they were audible.
For what felt like the umpteenth time in the opening 20 minutes of Leeds’ crucial clash with Brighton and Hove Albion in front of a nail-gnawing Elland Road crowd – a game Jesse Marsch’s relegation-threatened side really had to win – their £27 million record signing misplaced a simple pass.
The difference however was that, this time, Brighton went up the other end and did what so many teams have done against Leeds United this season. They scored.
It would be slightly unfair to say this was a moment that summed up Rodrigo’s time in West Yorkshire.
But when Leeds broke the bank for the Spain international after sealing promotion under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020, the expectation was that Rodrigo would set up chances for his grateful team-mates, not the opposition.
Barcelona wanted Leeds United’s Rodrigo Moreno
It certainly seems like a long time since Barcelona were willing to spend up to £50 million on a man who, back in 2017/18, had those long-suffering Valencia fans dreaming of domestic glory.
“I went to Barcelona to sell Rodrigo Moreno. 63 million euros,” says the unpopular Murthy.
“Rodrigo’s father wanted to earn two million euros in commissions. I talked with (Barca directors) Ramon Planes, Oscar Grau, (Eric) Abidal, the former CEO, and they told me: ‘Well, we can buy for 63 million euros without any problems. We are going to pay the two to Rodrigo’s father this year and 63 for us.
“They said (they’d pay) 30 million euros this year due to FFP (Financial Fair Play) and rest the next.”
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Rodrigo would eventually end up staying at Valencia and this was not the first time he’d miss out on a big-money switch to the Camp Nou. The 27-time Spain international was a target in early-2020 instead before Barca turned their attention to the far more affordable Martin Braithwaite.
Now, if one Leeds player is destined to end up in Barcelona, it’s not Rodrigo but Raphinha.
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