Barcelona to send Adama Traore back to Wolves if they sign Leeds United ace Raphinha
Barcelona will send Adama Traore back to Wolves if they sign Leeds United winger Raphinha in the summer, according to Diario AS journalist Javi Miguel.
Writing via his personal Twitter account on Sunday afternoon [27 March], Miguel reported that Raphinha, 25, will only join Barca if Leeds accept a player-plus-cash deal or reduce their valuation of the Brazil international to a paltry £20.8million.
It is understood that’s a similar amount that Barca would have to pay Wolves in order to trigger their option-to-buy clause in Traore’s loan deal at the Nou Camp.
However, Traore wouldn’t be signed permanently if Raphinha is while Ousmane Dembele’s “continuity” would also kill a deal for the Elland Road dazzler.
Better than both
Raphinha’s well ahead of Traore, a winger with absolutely no end product and only has one redeeming factor in his pade.
Dembele’s also been a massive flop at Barcelona for the money they signed him for.
Raphinha, on the other hand, has been absolutely brilliant for Leeds and Rennes and for Brazil over the last few years.
He’s helped Rennes qualify for the Champions League, helped Leeds finish in the top half of the Premier League after their promotion and played a key role in Brazil’s qualification for the 2022 World Cup.
As much as we hate to admit it, Raphinha looks and feels like a Barcelona player.
As it stands, it looks like the only thing that would stop him from moving to the Nou Camp is the fee that Barca need to pay for Raphinha.
And, based on everything we’ve seen, the Spanish club is nowhere near to paying what Leeds would want for the winger.
If that £20.8million figure is right, that’s an absolute insult.
He’s worth at least three times that and Barcelona will know that too.
In other Leeds United news, after two meetings with Victor Orta, Phil Hay says it’s likely Leeds will accept this major player exit.