Leeds United issue final deadline to Barcelona for Raphinha deal

As Ousmane Dembele’s situation continues to get complicated, Barcelona are in the transfer market in the hope of recruiting a right-winger.

While Ferran Torres is more than capable of playing in that position, the team needs a different profile, someone who is more ball-oriented.

Enter, Raphinha.

The Raphinha to Barcelona saga has been going on for a few months now, with initial reports stating that the club are looking to sign him if Leeds United are relegated from the Premier League.

While that would have made the move a lot easier, Barça are in still in the race to sign him, competing with Chelsea. Leeds, it seems, are getting frustrated with the delay in the deal and have issued a deadline for Barcelona till Thursday to send in a final offer, according to Ben Jacobs.

The Lilywhites have already brought in Luis Sinisterra to replace Raphinha, and want to offload the Brazilian as soon as possible.

Chelsea had reportedly reached an agreement with Leeds to sign Raphinha for €70-75 million, but could not convince the player just yet.

The winger is, in fact, dreaming of a move to Barcelona, and has conveyed as much to his agent, Deco.

Barça already have an agreement on personal terms with Raphinha, but are unable to match Chelsea’s offer just yet. They are waiting to trigger their second economic lever in the form of the sale of 15% of their TV rights, which could bring in nearly €300 million.

Not to mention, Raphinha is probably not the club’s first priority. They want to bring in Robert Lewandowski before everyone else in order to reinforce the attack.
Jules Kounde, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Marcos Alonso also find themselves on the list.