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Operation Raphinha reaches final stretch as Barcelona look to finalise Leeds United transfer
Operation Raphinha has reached the “final stretch” for Barcelona as they still plan to raid Leeds United, according to Spanish outlet SPORT.
The newspaper has reported in their print edition [June 21, pg. 6] that the Whites are accelerating their negotiations to find a replacement for the Brazilian.
Barcelona director Mateu Alemany will now travel to England to meet Victor Orta this week with the goal of reducing the asking price yet again before they hope to announce the signing on July 1st.
SPORT used information gathered by Football Insider that Leeds have made their move with an approach to sign Adama Traore from Wolves.
It is even suggested that a bid of £18million would be enough to seal a deal for the Spaniard.
Alemany has travelled to Leeds previously with little success, and it appears as though he may face the same fate with English clubs now starting to gather.
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Fabrizio Romano has insisted that Leeds believes it is impossible to accept the €40million [£34.3m] that Barcelona want to conclude at, with their value simply much higher.
No chance.
So, it is reported that this blockbuster transfer saga could end in a double deal.
Raphinha going to Barcelona would be the first, and Leeds securing Traore as his replacement would be the second, but this is something we simply do not see happening.
Leeds are in the driving seat in this negotiation, and that is something that Barcelona don’t seem to realise.
The Spaniards have lost their power with their shocking financial state, and Orta isn’t just going to roll over because of that, but instead use it to drive the price up even higher.
£34.3million would be an embarrassing selling price, and Leeds are well within their rights to push for double that, if not possibly even more.
This certainly isn’t going to be over this week, and this saga is surely set to drag on throughout the entire summer as Raphinha clearly looks to move on from Elland Road.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are readying a new bid for a blockbuster striker signing according to Phil Hay after Premier League survival