Here is your Leeds United morning digest for Thursday, February 11.
Leeds urged to avoid Raphinha "travesty"
Leeds have been urged to avoid a Raphinha "travesty" by keeping hold of the talented winger, despite reported interest from some of the top clubs in the Premier League.
Liverpool are said to be keenly interested in Raphinha, who has impressed greatly in his first season at Elland Road. However, former Leeds striker Noel Whelan believes that the club no longer needs to sell and must avoid having to get rid of their best players.
"They can knock on the door, but we are not a selling club," he told BBC Radio Leeds. "We are not a club in financial difficulties. We are building a team, and he is part of this rebuilding process.
"We are going to add other players – that’s going to complement him. If we sell him, that’s a travesty; it goes against what we are trying to do.
"I do not think that the regime here, that is what they want to do. They are building, they are happy."
The £50m windfall that proves Leeds' transfer acumen
Leeds have made a £50.41million profit on transfers since the beginning of the 2011/12 season.
A new study from BettingOdds.com reports that Leeds have made a profit of £50.14m on players sold over the past decade. More impressively, they rank first of all current Premier League clubs in profit and loss as a percentage of revenue earned through transfers.
Leeds made £81.41m on player sales during the same time period, while they only spent £31m on players that have already been sold.
Only Southampton, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and Everton have a greater profit from transfer sales, and Leeds' 162.7% return on their spending is the highest percentage figure of all Premier League teams.
You can read more about Leeds' transfer success here.
Bruno Fernandes' glowing Raphinha reference
Bruno Fernandes' glowing reference of Raphinha is being realised as the 24-year-old continues to shine for Leeds.
In 2019 when still at Sporting Lisbon, Fernandes, reflecting on Raphinha's exit in the summer, admitted that he greatly missed the winger.
"Raphinha, I miss Raphinha," he said in December 2019 to Top Mercato.
"He's a player with whom I had a different chemistry from the others. He understood me at a glance.
"He knew, according to the movement of my body, where I was going to put the ball to him.
"I also miss him because he brought joy to the locker room. He’s also a responsible and hardworking person."
Eight Premier League goal contributions and a series of glittering performances later and it is clear to see that Raphinha is living up to Fernandes' billing.
