The 23-year-old Brazilian became Leeds’ fourth major signing of the transfer window following Rodrigo, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, on deadline day.
The newly-promoted Premier League side completed the signing of Raphinha from Rennes for an initial fee of £17m, which could rise further after add-ons.
Reflecting on the departure of the youngster, Rennes president Holveck has revealed that he was given the choice to leave the club, or stay, on Sunday.
Holveck, who also emphasised the money the club will make on the sale, is of the view that keeping Raphinha against his will would have been a bad idea and the player would have taken a long time to recover from the disappointment had he been forced to stay.
“Raphinha was told on Sunday night that he could stay and that it was his choice“, Holveck was quoted as saying by French daily Ouest France.
“Considering the fee and given the bonuses, we will end up with a capital gain.
“Keeping a player against his will is not necessarily a good idea.
“He would have taken four months to digest the frustration.”
Raphinha scored one goal and provided two assists from his six league games for Rennes this season and the Ligue 1 club will be hopeful of new boy Jeremy Doku successfully replacing the winger.
