Leeds United are back in pole position in the intense automatic promotion tussle unfolding in the Championship, with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough on Tuesday night sending them straight back to the top of the unpredictable division.
However, nothing is set in stone just yet, with Daniel Farke’s Whites in an equally promising position last campaign, only for playoff final misery to greet them at the hands of Southampton.
This promotion near-miss had the potential to completely break the West Yorkshire outfit – considering the amount of notable sales that were later signed off on – with the likes of Georginio Rutter and many more heartbreakingly swapping the second tier for luxurious Premier League pastures.
How Leeds' record sales are now performing
Leeds did hold onto Rutter for longer than they would have anticipated, with the enigmatic 22-year-old not actually leaving Elland Road for good until the middle of August last year.
Still, even with all that time to prepare for the exciting Frenchman’s departure, his eventual £40m exit to Brighton and Hove Albion would prove to be a difficult pill to swallow.
After all, Leeds have never really replaced Rutter’s firepower in the number ten position back at Elland Road, with the Seagulls number 14 now up to an impressive eight goals and five assists this season, whilst Farke persists with the likes of Brenden Aaronson.
At least Farke has full-throttle wingers such as Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani to call upon to make the £25m sale of Crysencio Summerville less painful, with the Dutchman experiencing an up-and-down spell at West Ham United to date.
Summerville has only picked up a meagre one goal and two assists from 22 appearances this season at the Hammers, with injury difficulties getting the better of him this year so far.
Whilst both Rutter and Summerville have blown hot and cold, there is one former Leeds man who has transformed into one of the world’s best away from West Yorkshire, leading to some bold valuations appearing above his head.
The "special" Leeds ace now worth £100m
It won’t come as the greatest shock to see this ex-Whites favourite excelling so much far away from England, considering he is their record sale at a hefty £55m when Victor Orta signed off on his exit to Spain.
As has been seen in the unfortunate tale of Kalvin Phillips, sometimes a more opulent environment can work against you, but Raphinha is now regarded as one of the shining stars in world football at Hansi Flick’s treble-chasing Barcelona.
In Europe’s elite competition alone this season, the spellbinding Brazilian has managed to match Lionel Messi’s ridiculous Barca numbers, with Raphinha now up to a staggering 19 goals and assists from just 11 outings.
Moreover, the constantly captivating 28-year-old has a ridiculous 50 goals and assists in total from 45 overall appearances, with the Barca superstar more than living up to Marcelo Bielsa’s claims now that he was “special” when playing out of his skin week in week out at Leeds.
24/25
Barcelona
45
28
22
23/24
Barcelona
37
10
13
22/23
Barcelona
50
10
10
21/22
Leeds
36
11
3
20/21
Leeds
31
6
9
His consistent excellence at the Camp Nou has even led to bids worth around €100m (£86m) reportedly being made, with these insane numbers tallied up also leading to lofty FBref comparisons being drawn to well-known names across Europe.
Those include the likes of Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer, who are worth around the £128m and £111m mark respectively, according to Transfermarkt.
Flick and Co will just be savouring the brilliance of Raphinha for as long as they can, whilst his ex-employers find themselves far more removed from the grandeur of European football fighting it out to return to the Premier League.
Perhaps, the Whites may be ruing Orta’s failure to rake in an even bigger transfer fee…
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