Phil Hay shares what sources at Leeds United have said about Barcelona move for Raphinha
Phil Hay has shared that sources at Leeds United have insisted that a deal is still not yet in place for Raphinha to join Barcelona this summer.
The Athletic journalist did report that a deal is edging closer after positive talks in the past 48 hours have seen significant progress made over a deal for the Brazilian.
It comes after CBS Sports reported the huge news that an agreement was in place with the paperwork even set to be finalised today to set up the medical this week, but that isn’t the case it seems.
Writing for The Athletic on Monday morning [11 July] Hay shared the latest news on the Raphinha saga with news suggesting his exit is very close.
“Leeds United and Barcelona are edging closer to a deal for Raphinha amid mounting confidence on all sides that an agreement will be reached for the Brazilian winger,” he wrote.
“Positive discussions over the weekend have raised expectations that Raphinha will secure his preferred move to Camp Nou, bringing an end to his two-year stay at Elland Road.
“Sources at Leeds insist a deal is not yet in place with Barcelona but negotiations over the past 48 hours have seen significant progress.”
Edging closer.
It appears as though several media outlets are jumping the gun early to try and make sure they are first with the news that Raphinha is going to Barcelona.
The news is easy to share given that this is the worst-kept secret in football, with Raphinha making it very clear alongside Deco that this is the only move he wants.
If that wasn’t the case, the winger would already be in pre-season training with Chelsea given that they have had that bid accepted for weeks now.
With talks progressing significantly over the weekend, as Hay mentions, it should not take much more time for this one to come to that agreement, likely in the coming days.
Once that happens, it should all move very quickly and Leeds have been right to push these talks hard with a guaranteed fee over instalments likely the main sticking point.
Time to get this one done and move on.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites now want to sign this striker with a rival set to kickstart a major £30million+ transfer battle