By Neil Champney

6th Sep, 2020 | 9:05am

'Surely not?', 'I'll explode’: Many Leeds fans blown away by fresh transfer report, talks opened

Leeds United fans have taken to Twitter to express their delight at being linked with Barcelona midfielder Rafinha Alcantara.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, the Whites are keen on the 27-year-old, who is the brother of Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago and a lifelong friend of Elland Road new boy Rodrigo.

It is understood that preliminary talks have been opened between Leeds and the Catalan giants over a potential deal that would be worth around £14.2 million.

That’s the amount that Celta Vigo would have had to pay Barca to make Rafinha’s loan move last season into a permanent one.

It is understood that Celta Vigo are keen, but will struggle to meet that valuation of the player.

But their loss could be Leeds’ gain, according to a number of fans.

There seems to be a general excitement surrounding the prospect of the midfielder rocking up in Yorkshire, although there are perhaps a couple of caveats to this one.

It is understood that Leeds’ main target remains Udinese midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.

Given that he is expected to cost upwards of £25 million, it is a little difficult to foresee the Whites bringing him in and Rafinha at the same time.

That being said, the stats would suggest that the Barca man would be a very decent alternative.

Last season, as per Wyscout, he actually had a higher pass completion rate, higher dribble success rate, made more interceptions in the middle of the park, and had a higher total action success rate.

At a snip over £14 million, he could prove to be a really astute signing should Leeds miss out on de Paul.

Here are some of the best tweets from Leeds fans:

https://twitter.com/MrLukeyGeorge/status/1302268218946584578?s=20

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