By Joe Ellis

27th Mar, 2022 | 5:40pm

Barcelona must offer better than Oscar Mingueza to sign Raphinha from Leeds United

Leeds United cannot shake off Barcelona as they pursue a deal to sign the Whites’ inventive winger Raphinha in the summer.

The latest report from Diario Sport suggests that the Catalan giants might try to use 22-year-old Spanish defender Oscar Mingueza as part of the deal to reduce the monetary value they would have to pay.

It’s not a surprise they are trying to head down this avenue given their precarious financial position but that isn’t stopping them from trying to throw whatever they can at the 25-year-old Brazilian.

The release clause in Raphinha’s contract is set at £75million but should Leeds get relegated this season, he could leave Elland Road for just £25million [Fabrizio Romano].

That, though, seems far less likely now than it did a few weeks ago as Jesse Marsch has turned things around at LS11 in a big way.

Part of that has come down to a more structured defence and Mingueza might not be the perfect fit that some first think.

He has struggled to find his way into the Barcelona team this season with Ronald Araujo and Gerard Pique ahead of him in the pecking order.

Perhaps it isn’t the best judge of a player to be behind those two in the manager’s preferences given the experience and ability both possess but Marsch would still want a fairly regular player if an exchange were to happen.

Mingueza is not the player that Leeds will have been hoping was thrown into the equation with central defence not an area that is in desperate need of attention right now.

Leo Hjelde is a promising talent in that position and the manager would surely prefer to develop him than bring in another so-so player to get in his way.

In other Leeds United news, Whites players were seen taking in another major sporting event last night with front row seats.