Chelsea offer £31.2m deal to Leeds United star Raphinha as agent jets in for transfer talks on Thursday
Raphinha has been offered a five-year deal worth around £120,000-a-week by Chelsea after a fee was agreed to sign him from Leeds United, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper reported via their print edition (30 June, page 71) that Chelsea will enter discussions with the 25-year-old’s agent Deco on Thursday after the £31.2million contract was offered to the Brazil international.
It is understood that Deco was in Spain on Wednesday (29 June) to see if Barcelona could match Chelsea’s offer for Raphinha, which currently stands at £55million plus add-ons.
Barca reportedly remain Raphinha’s favoured destination.
Hard to say no
It’s constantly being reported that Raphinha wants to join Barcelona above all other clubs.
However, unless the Barca top-brass find a miracle cure for their financial issues and are able to pay Leeds a fair price for the Brazil international, he’ll have to change his tune.
As it stands, Chelsea are the only club offering a decent whack for Raphinha.
Not only are Leeds getting a potentially decent fee for the Brazilian but Chelsea are also offering the former Rennes winger a massive contract that he more than deserves.
It seems, unfortunately for Leeds fans, that only Premier League clubs can afford him.
However, while a move to Chelsea isn’t Raphinha’s preferred move, it’s still probably the best possible for him out of those who are interested.
Arsenal have been widely reported to have made an unsuccessful bid for Raphinha but would he get Champions League football there? No, he wouldn’t. Not yet, anyway.
At Chelsea, he’ll probably be a regular starter and get to play in Europe’s top competition, which he gave up when he left Rennes for Leeds in 2020.
In other Leeds United news, this Leeds player has arrived in a European city to undergo a medical before leaving Elland Road permanently.