Barcelona make final official offer for Leeds United winger Raphinha
Barcelona have submitted a final offer of €55m (£46.5m) + €10m (£8.5m) in add-ons for Leeds United winger Raphinha, with a decision expected in hours from the club according to Sport.
Leeds have already agreed a deal with Premier League rivals Chelsea of a greater value, but the Brazilian is adamant that he wants to go to Barcelona and they’re hoping that will sway the Whites into accepting a lower offer.
The Whites are due to fly to Australia for their pre-season tour this weekend, and want a conclusion to the saga one way or another by then.
The report [July 8] claims this will be Barcelona’s final offer for the 25-year-old due to the timing issues, but they’re confident they will be able to sign him ahead of Premier League competition.
About time
There has been talk for months about Barcelona coming in for Raphinha, but up until now there has been no official offer for him from the club.
The Whites held firm on their valuation and had it met, only for the player to delay that move in order to get his dream deal elsewhere but that is putting pressure on Leeds to accept less money.
Realistically the club should tell him and Barcelona to get lost because of Chelsea’s offer, but they risk losing out on that money too if Raphinha refuses to move and after spending a large amount already that could cause issues.
It’s clear the player doesn’t want to stick around at Elland Road so we need to get rid, and if it means taking slightly less money at this point then so be it.
A move abroad hurts the club less too in terms of playing against him, and hopefully this saga can come to a swift conclusion now.
In other Leeds news, the club have made an offer of more that £25.7m for their top target according to Fabrizio Romano