It would have been a betrayal, the Barcelona player nearly joined Manchester Utd

This Barcelona forward admits a rare transfer between two clubs for him was almost completed

17/01/2024, 09:58 PM +00:00

This Barcelona forward nearly broke the heart of every Leeds fan

The hatred between two football clubs when it comes to a real rivalry is a feeling that is unmatched. The El Clasico’s between Messi and Ronaldo, the chaos between Boca Juniors vs River Plate, and the prestigious Derby della Madonnina between Inter Milan and AC Milan. The history between all those clubs with each other in strong and its must see television when they play each other.

In England derbies are not as powerful as in other countries, but they can still get rowdy if the stakes of the match have huge implications. One of those derbies is the Roses rivalry between Manchester United and Leeds United. A rivalry that is over a century old and has had 113 meetings between the two with the most recent one just last season which saw United win two-nil at Elland Road. When Leeds came back up to the Premier League in 2020 the first fixture, they circled in their calendar was the game against United.

One thing that can also intensify a rivalry is when you see a player play for both clubs. There has been a total of 16 transfers made between the two clubs, with Leeds selling a player to United six times, and United selling a player to Leeds 10 times. When you look at the players who have worn both kits there’s two names that spring to mind. Eric Cantona and Rio Ferdinand. “The King” otherwise known as Eric Cantona would spearhead United’s ascension to the top of English football and gave them a superstar for the first time. As for Rio, he would wind up as one of the most decorated defenders in United’s history and lifted the Champions League as captain.

United nearly made it a hat trick in taking Leeds’ best player in summer of 2022 as they had strong interest in Raphinha. In an interview Raphinha was asked which club he was closest to joining and his answer was “United”. The player would move on to Barca whilst United pivoted to Antony.

The reason Raphinha didn’t move to United

Raphinha wanted to stay loyal upon his exit from Elland Road and there would have been no bigger betrayal than joining Leeds biggest opponents.