Andrea Radrizzani, owner of Leeds United, has admitted he felt ‘ashamed’ to return to his Chelsea counterpart Todd Boehly to inform him that forward Raphinha was headed to Barcelona this summer.
Chelsea, under the leadership of Boehly, agreed on a deal worth around £55 million for Raphinha in June but the Brazilian winger ended up joining Barcelona two weeks later.
The Blues had beaten Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to the front of the queue when Raphinha’s exit from Leeds looked nailed on.
But Barcelona asked Raphinha to wait until a transfer was financially plausible, leaving Boehly and Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel frustrated in their search for attacking reinforcements this summer.