As far as history goes, Manchester United and Leeds United aren’t the best of friends.
They’ve had their fair share of heated derbies, and while the Whites have spent the last 16 years out of the Premier League, the rivalry never went away.
That’s why, much like the idea of a Liverpool player swapping for Manchester United, a transfer between the two clubs aren’t exactly common.
There have been, however, a number of exceptions in the past, with Eric Cantona, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Smith the most recent three to have directly moved from Elland Road to Old Trafford.
Well, if the latest rumours are to be believed, we could get another one in the summer in the shape of Raphinha, who has taken the Premier League by storm ever since joining Marcelo Bielsa’s side from Stade Rennais.
Manchester United, Liverpool and other clubs are interested in signing Leeds United winger #Raphinha this summer, it will be well contested in the summer. #LUFC want to keep him. #MUFC #LFC
— Gianluigi Longari (@Glongari) February 24, 2021
The Brazilian has scored five goals and assisted another five in 20 league appearances so far, terrorising defences with his direct approach to the game and dribbling speed.
This has led to a number of ‘bigger’ clubs, at least in terms of stature, to take notice, including Liverpool and Manchester United.
According to Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari, both the Red Devils and the Reds are among a number of clubs ‘interested in signing the Leeds United winger this summer’.
He adds that because of the competition, ‘it will be well contested’ in the upcoming transfer window.
As for Leeds’ stance in all this, you won’t be shocked to hear that they would rather keep the 24-year-old.
That means that for a transfer to happen, a lot of money would likely have to exchange hands, and since they only spent £17m on him in the first place, you’d probably be looking for at least double that and maybe a chunk more on top.
