Daniel Feliciano

Tue 7 June 2022 19:25, UK

Leeds winger Raphinha’s protracted move to Barcelona is no longer seen clearly in Spain, but a meeting is planned in the next few days according to Sport [June 7].

The Brazilian is linked with an exit to the Camp Nou after helping the Whites survive relegation from the Premier League in the 2021/22 campaign.

But after sure-fire links all summer so far, a new report claims the deal is “deflating like a balloon” because the two teams are so far apart in their valuation of the player.

Raphinha had a €25m (£21.3m) release clause in his contract had Leeds been relegated, which Barcelona wanted to exploit, however after they survived there is now no clause and the club want between £60-70m for the 25-year-old.

Barcelona simply can’t afford that fee and are now looking at alternative options, but agent Deco is trying to get a deal in place and a meeting is planned “in the next few days” to try and get the operation off the ground.

Boost

If Barcelona can’t afford to pay Leeds what they deem Raphinha to be worth, then it’s their loss and our gain.

The Brazilian is a superstar in the making and with the World Cup coming up later this year regular first-team football is imperative for him to be part of the squad.

Even if the move to Barcelona can guarantee him regular football too, Leeds are under no pressure to sell and don’t need to do the Catalan club any favours.

There is still a long time to go in the window, with it not even being officially open yet, but it seems as though both clubs want this saga to come to an end sooner rather than later.

Raphinha isn’t kicking up a fuss to go anywhere, so unless Barcelona stump up the cash or talk Leeds down off the ledge then he’ll still be playing in white in 2022/23.

In other Leeds news, report shares when Leeds can expect formal approach for star man