Leeds United are working under strict financial restrictions due to the Premier League’s PSR guidelines and had to manage their spending carefully during last summer’s transfer window.
The Whites do not want to break the Premier League’s financial rules and attract penalties like points deductions, and their recruitment team were careful about their player trading in the summer.
PSR will again dictate how much Leeds can spend in the winter transfer window, and the club’s focus on players who are running out of contracts shows that they cannot afford to spend big fees in January.
However, there were suggestions that Leeds could be in for a big payday at the end of the season as Barcelona owed a huge chunk of the fee they agreed to pay to the Whites when they signed Raphinha in 2022.
Barcelona do not owe any money to Leeds United
Reports claimed that Barcelona still owed Leeds close to £37m, with the payment due before the end of the 2025/26 season.
However, the Yorkshire Sport journalist Graham Smyth, the Catalan giants do not owe any money to Leeds from the Raphinha transaction, which happened more than three years ago.
The Leeds insider revealed that the Whites have already received the full fee from the Brazilian’s sale and won’t get any more money.
Barcelona owe money to a creditor, who financed the winger’s move from Leeds to the Nou Camp in 2022.
Responding to a Leeds fan, Smyth wrote on X: “Leeds got paid, Gary. We reported this a year ago. Leeds got their money.
“Barca owe a creditor now, not Leeds.”
Leeds got paid Gary. We reported this a year ago. Leeds got their money. Barca owe a creditor now, not Leeds.
— Graham Smyth (@GrahamSmyth) October 10, 2025
PSR is a huge concern at Leeds
Leeds managing director Robbie Evans claimed after the summer window that they had maxed out their PSR for the season with ther spending of £100m on 10 new players.
It seems Leeds will need to sell to buy in January, and players such as Illan Meslier are unlikely to fetch a fee considerable enough to help Leeds.
The club may have to sell one or two key players in the winter window to have the room to spend on a couple of new signings in the middle of the season.
With no extra fee coming from the Raphinha sale, the Whites are facing a tough choice ahead of the January window.
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