Leeds United agree fee with Barcelona for Raphinha, announcement in hours
Leeds United have finally agreed a deal with Barcelona for the transfer of Raphinha and an announcement could come very soon, according to Sport.
After weeks of negotiations between the clubs and plenty of stalling, the Catalan giants have had a bid accepted of €55m (£46.5m) plus add-ons depending on performances with a five-year deal agreed.
It’s believed that the player expects a move could be officially announced “in the next few hours”, sealing a dream transfer to the La Liga giants.
Barcelona have successfully negotiated a deal that is worth less than Chelsea’s original accepted offer, which forced the club to act quicker than anticipated.
The deal was thought to be being held up as Barcelona worked towards confirming the extension of Ousmane Dembele’s contract, but it now seems that this saga is set to be completed.
Finally
Time to go Rapha. While it’s been lovely to have you at Elland Road for the last two years, the last two months have been a complete nightmare and it’s great that it’s now over.
Leeds held firm to get the valuation they wanted, but ultimately the will of the player seems as though it’s going to cost the club millions in the process.
But with a replacement already secured, plus other areas of the squad strengthened, the hope is that his absence and departure will not be quite as big a problem as it would have been predicted to be at the end of the last season.
Leeds have already signed Luis Sinisterra and Brenden Aaronson to improve their attack while there is interest in bringing in another forward too.
That should be more than enough to not only replace the goals and creativity he brought, but also surpass it and make the team an even bigger threat going forward in the 2022/23 season.
In other Leeds news, just £4m separates the Whites from agreeing a deal for this striker according to a report