BarcelonaAnderson Luiz de Souza, Deco, is a key piece to understanding the arrival of Raphinha Dias at Barça. Without him, in fact, the former Leeds player would have stayed in the Premier League and not gone to Barcelona. The Brazilian striker had many suitors, especially from the English league, but the Barça club managed to compete hand-to-hand with clubs that enjoy much greater financial freedom to bring him on board. The key factor? The intermediation of Deco, its representative, in the negotiations. The ex-player advises Barça on the Brazilian and Portuguese market without receiving any salary, according to reports from the Camp Nou. He started in the world of representation at the hands of Jorge Mendes, a key figure in the Blaugrana market movements.
Barça’s interest in Raphinha reached Leeds this January. The first contacts were already made by Deco, who spoke to the offices of the English club to inform them of the desire of the entity led by Joan Laporta to sign the striker. “It comes to us as a firm interest. It comes from Deco and we already believe that they are for real”, they confess from the offices of Leeds. The Blaugrana were the first to knock on the door asking for him, before Arsenal, who also bet firmly at the start. Then went Tottenham and Chelsea, who would end up being the biggest rival in the race to take him away. The negotiations were fluid from the first moment and the Brazilian representative knew how to measure the pace and gather the right people so that his representative landed in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. “He has managed the politics of the two clubs very well. When he saw that the meetings between those at the top were not working, he organized meetings to quote those at the bottom”, emphasize from Leeds. With Mateu Alemany, Jordi Cruyff, Deco himself and the representatives of the technical area of Leeds, the signing of the footballer was simmering.
Raphinha cost €25m if Leeds were relegated, but Jesse Marsch’s side held out in the Premier League. It was therefore necessary to negotiate a higher transfer price. At that time, Barça was no longer the main favorite to sign the player. So much so that when the final decision was made, there were two proposals on the table: one from Chelsea and one from Barça. The blues they presented a better one, but the footballer preferred to make the change to the Spanish League. In that situation, according to sources in the negotiation, Deco moved the card and gave up receiving a commission from the transfer price. The amount of these fees was added to the total of Barça’s offer, which almost equaled that of Chelsea. “Leeds has not charged any commission. We had agreed certain amounts, but he sacrificed them to bring him to Barça”, say the English club. “Yes [Raphinha] was going to Chelsea, Deco was making a lot more money. He would have paid for both sides,” they add.
Deco, however, will receive financial compensation as Raphinha’s agent for his arrival in Barcelona. “What is usual”, they say from the Blaugrana entity. Usually, when a footballer signs for a new club, the representative takes between 5% and 10% of the salary (the lower figure is the most common situation). The Brazilian representative will receive the corresponding amount prorated during the years that Raphinha plays for Barça. This means that the commission will not affect the signing price (Leeds will charge it in full), but it will affect the salary and amortization of the first team. That is, it will compute in the fair play financial The payback of Raphinha’s signing will therefore not only have to be calculated based on his cost, but also by adding the commission due. The same thing happens, for example, when calculating the pending repayment of Frenkie de Jong, higher than the price of his signing would indicate due to the commissions and extra supplements not collected in the transfer paid to Ajax.
Proper name of the culer pre-season
Raphinha has surprised by his immediate performance. This, however, is no surprise, their former team points out. “He doesn’t need time to adapt. At Leeds, he was surprised by how quickly he fit in with both the fans and Bielsa. He has a lot of physicality, energy and offensive power”, they remember from the offices of the English club. “Before he left we told him not to lose his spirit. He is very hardworking and supportive on the pitch and a very reliable player for the coaches,” they added. Once introduced on July 15, he joined the team’s dynamic and, after the pre-season matches played, has become one of the illusions of the culers. And in a tough competition for Ousmane Dembélé.
