Barcelona superstar Raphinha is among the leading contenders for this year’s Ballon d’Or, a development that every Leeds United fan who watched him at Elland Road could have predicted.
While the Brazil international is flying in Catalonia, we’ve decided to revisit the four other players that Leeds sold two and a half years ago.
Signed by Marcelo Bielsa after Leeds were promoted in 2020, Raphinha quickly demonstrated his world-class credentials. He was particularly important as Jesse Marsch’s beleaguered Whites achieved survival in 2021-22, by which point it was inevitable that he’d move to one of Europe’s elite clubs.
Leeds used the £50million fee (plus another big-money departure) to fund the ill-fated reshaping of the squad in Marsch’s image. We all know how that turned out, but what became of Leeds’ four other sales in the summer of 2022?
Liam McCarron
Youth products including Ryan Edmondson, Bobby Kamwa and Nohan Kenneh were all released or allowed to leave on a free in the summer of 2022.
But Leeds received a small, nominal fee for homegrown utility man McCarron.
The Scotland youth international was once a regular fixture for Leeds’ Under-21s, but his first-team experience amounted to a nine-minute cameo in a 4-1 home defeat to Arsenal during the latter days of Bielsa’s reign.
McCarron went to Stoke City that summer, where he continued to develop his game in youth football while struggling for senior opportunities.
He made just one 16-minute appearance for the Potters before being sold to Northampton Town last summer.
He’s made 16 appearances for the midtable League One outfit this season, but the majority have been from the bench.
Kalvin Phillips
Ah, Kalvin. What happened?
It’s been a strange, up-and-down career for Phillips. Few would have backed him to reach the very top of the game during his early, relatively forgettable years while Leeds languished in the Championship.
But a move to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City came as no great surprise after Bielsa had transformed him into an all-action defensive midfielder.
He was outstanding as Leeds finished 9th in their first season back in the Premier League and was voted England’s Player of the Year after his starring role in their run to the Euro 2020 final.
Unlike Raphinha, Phillips wasn’t particularly integral to Leeds’ skin-of-their-teeth survival in 2021-22. He’d been hampered by injuries that year and never regained his form after the move to the Etihad.
Phillips can at least consider himself a treble-winner and a back-to-back Premier League champion, but his role in those trophy triumphs was negligible at best.
Now he’s at relegation-doomed Ipswich Town, failing to get his career back on track.
He remains contracted at parent club City until 2028, but you can’t imagine he factors into their future plans. Awkward conversations await in the summer.
READ: A world-class XI Leeds United missed out on in the Premier League: Gvardiol, Gyokeres…
Elia Caprile
As with Illan Meslier before him, Caprile was signed by Victor Orta as a highly-rated prospect to bolster Leeds’ youth ranks with a view to one day challenging for the first team.
But the goalkeeper didn’t stick around for all that long, instead returning to Italy for a small fee following a loan away to lower-league Pro Patria.
Unlike Meslier, Caprile has really kicked on and grown since then. He shone in Serie B for Bari, earning him a reputation as one of the top young ‘keepers in Europe and move to Serie A champions Napoli the following summer.
Caprile made four appearances for Antonio Conte’s Scudetto chasers in the first half of the season, but has since been loaned out to Cagliari.
Expect to see the 23-year-old receive a first senior Italy call-up sooner or later.
Leif Davis
A product of Wallsend Boys Club, Davis continued developing his skills at Elland Road between 2018 and 2022.
But he never made it beyond the fringes under Bielsa and spent his final year on the books winning promotion out on loan at Bournemouth.
The Cherries opted against signing the left-back after the peripheral role he’d played under Scott Parker, and instead he dropped down to League One to sign for Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1million.
The move to Portman Road turned out to be brilliant for Davis, who has thrived under the management of Kieran McKenna.
He’s been a near ever-present for the Tractor Boys as they achieved back-to-back promotions, topping the assist charts in both campaigns.
Davis has had his moments in the top flight this season, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll have done enough to court interest in his signature if (when?) Ipswich go back down.
An option for Leeds if they trade places?
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