(Football news) Barcelona have reportedly submitted a new bid to Leeds United for Raphinha. The Catalans have offered €58 million upfront fee but the deal could rise as high as €68m with further add-ons. According to Fabrizio Romano, Leeds are “poised to accept the bid” and the deal is close as even though Barca may have to wait to register the Brazilian because of their financial situation they have a verbal agreement with both the player as well as Leeds United.
There has been plenty of talk about Barcelona’s offer for Raphinha but it does seem like that the Catalans giants are about to get their man. The presence of Deco as Raphinha’s agent and also the player’s desire to move to Barca have been the key to this deal getting done. Raphinha now looks set to become Barcelona’s third summer signing after Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie while the rumour mill continues for Robert Lewandowski to arrive at the Camp Nou this summer. Leeds have already replaced Raphinha by bringing in Luis Sinisterra and Brenden Aaronson. The entire Leeds squad is currently on a pre-season tour in Australia while Raphinha is in England training alone and no doubt waiting for the call to fly out to Barca.
The negotiations to get Raphinha to Barcelona were already underway since Sunday with the winger having his heart set on Barcelona despite Leeds agreeing a transfer fee with Chelsea. The Blues also made an identical offer to Barcelona, leaving the Brazilian with a choice of going to Stamford Bridge. Ultimately he chose Barca with his agent and former Barcelona player Deco taking charge of the deal. Interestingly, Deco has also played for Chelsea but the former Portuguese midfielder made his career in Spain for the Blaugrana. Raphinha will have his wages doubled as the winger originally joined Leeds in 2020 after a great season with French side Rennes in 2019-20. He has gone on to make a total of 67 appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals during his time at the West Yorkshire side. Raphinha is also a full Brazilian international, earning nine caps since making the move to Leeds.
The Catalans had been following Raphinha for months but after Chelsea got to an agreement with Leeds, the former Barcelona and Chelsea star, Deco jetted off to the Camp Nou and forced the move to the club. It was a dream move for the 25-year-old Brazilian as he waited for the club and added pressure to complete the deal quickly. Indirectly responsible for all this was Barcelona who are in a very entangled situation; threatened by long-term and short-term debt and keeping daily contact with investment companies to sort out an impossible jigsaw on their numbers is how they completed the deal for Raphinha.
Barcelona are still finding it difficult to register new players. To bring in a new player under La Liga rules, they need to recoup at least €3 for every €1 spent on new salaries. However, the club is not only absolutely willing to spend a lot of money immediately as they are dictating the tempos of the summer planning of multiple European giants. Top clubs have to wait for Barcelona to solve their issues to progress with their own transfers plans. We expect Leeds to move quickly move on and bring new players to the club as another midfielder, a winger and a striker to give competition to Patrick Bamford or let Jesse Marsch switch to playing with two up front
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