{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Fabrizio Romano responds to latest rumours of Leeds winger Raphinha to Barcelona
Fabrizio Romano has responded to the latest rumours regarding Leeds winger Raphinha and a potential summer transfer to Barcelona.
Reports on Tuesday morning [March 22nd] suggested that the La Liga giants have made their move for the Brazilian, tabling an offer to Leeds while agreeing a five-year-deal with the player [Sport]
However Romano seems to believe that isn’t entirely true, providing an update of his own via his personal Twitter account.
“Barcelona have been working on Raphinha as summer target for weeks,” he said, quoting a tweet from earlier this month where he mentioned their interest.
“He’s one of the names in the list and the player would be happy to join Barça. Talks already started with his agent Deco who’s close to Laporta.
“Nothing has been discussed between clubs with Leeds yet.”
Bound to come
With Leeds’ current situation in the Premier League, it was inevitable that rumours around the star players would come out and we’re seeing it in droves.
Previous reports have suggested two different release clause amounts in Raphinha’s contract depending on whether the club are relegated or stay in the division [Longari], but it seems he will leave regardless.
Leeds will know that the chances of him signing a new contract as was originally the plan are likely to have diminished significantly considering the interest shown in him.
So now they must focus on getting the best price they possibly can for the player, and then replacing him adequately to ensure they are not weakened too much next season.
There’s still plenty of time to go before the window opens, so this will be a long summer of rumours judging by what’s happening now, but this one has got the ball rolling already.
In other Leeds news, Phil Hay shares what positions Leeds want to sign for this summer, expects bid for named ace