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Deco to 'force' solution between Leeds United and Barcelona for Raphinha deal
Raphinha’s agent Deco will look to “force a solution” between Leeds and Barcelona after Arsenal stepped up their interest in the Brazilian, according to Sport.
A report by The Athletic [June 25] claims that Arsenal have moved to the front of the queue in the race for the 25-year-old and will make a new bid this coming week.
However according to Sport the player still prefers a move to the Camp Nou and his agent will look to close a deal between the parties as soon as possible so he gets his wish.
Barcelona are unwilling to pay a premium for the player, who had a £20m release clause in his Leeds contract in the event of relegation, but when they stayed in the Premier League the club were able to make their demands bigger and want between £50-60m.
The La Liga club see those demands as “outrageous” and despite Deco’s confidence of getting a deal done, they have reportedly told Angel Di Maria to wait on making a decision on his future.
Bidding War
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If Leeds get their way, then they’ll have several clubs making moves for Raphinha this summer and that will ultimately end in Barcelona sealing the deal.
The player prefers a move to Spain and obviously for the club it would be better to lose their best player to a club they don’t have to face in domestic competition.
However the most important thing is undoubtedly to ensure they get properly compensated after helping Raphinha develop into one of Europe’s most sought after wingers over the last two years.
The club won’t stand in his way and if it’s a Premier League club like Arsenal that come in and match their valuation then so be it. There should be no discounts just because of preference.
It seems inevitable now that the club will lose both Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha this summer, which was a disaster at the start of the window. But the club are moving well in the market and fans should be confident that the money will be reinvested and the squad strengthened if that happens.
In other Leeds news, club preference shared after latest update on blockbuster summer deal