Rio Ferdinand has claimed that there are ‘similarities’ between what is happening at Barcelona right now and what happened to Leeds United when they were relegated in 2004, as he told Vibe with Five.
The million-dollar question everyone is trying to get the answers to is ‘how are Barcelona spending all this money?’ One of their most-recent transfers was signing Raphinha from Leeds.
The La Liga giants have paid upwards of £55 million for the player (BBC Sport), despite the club being in such debt.
When Leeds were relegated nearly two decades ago, it came on the backdrop of financial turmoil within the club, which even with the sale of star names, it still couldn’t save them from getting into such hot water.
Ferdinand was one of those players sold when he joined Manchester United, as he claimed that he ‘still doesn’t understand why the Leeds fans don’t like me’ because he feels his record-breaking transfer at the time helped save the club.
“I think there are similarities in that sense, but I don’t know too many of the final details and the running of the football club at Leeds was, they were spending more than what was coming in,” said Ferdinand.
“That was Leeds’ problem. That’s why you saw the fire sale for the likes of myself, followed by Robbie Keane, Woodgate and other players. Loads had to go to foot the bill of the football club at the end of the day and to save the club.
“That’s why I don’t understand why Leeds fans still don’t like me because I actually saved them from going extinct. They are details that will come out in the washing in due course, with this financial situation at Barcelona.”
RAPHINHA FINALLY GOT HIS MOVE
The Raphinha transfer saga was a long-winded one because it seems as though Barcelona were still collecting money to pay his transfer fee.
At the end of the day, the player himself got his dream move and that’s to represent one of Europe’s iconic clubs that has a rich history with Brazilian players.
Whilst Kalvin Phillips ended up in Manchester City colours, he will face his former side next season and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s scoring past them.
But at least Raphinha won’t be returning to Elland Road and scoring past his former side given that he is now looking to make a name for himself in Spain.
However Barcelona are getting their transfers done, one thing is for sure, they have a top-quality player on their hands and a player more than capable of hitting double-figure goals next season.
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