Barcelona president Joan Laporta has made it clear the interest that the Catalan giants hold in signing Leeds’ Brazilian star Raphinha.
In an interview with RAC1, the 59-year-old stated “We have two signings lined up, maybe a centre-back and a midfielder, yes. Raphinha, on the other hand, is a great player. We have good reports on him. Deco has his job and informs us of details so we don’t make mistakes. And in some cases he has helped us a lot.”
Laporta goes on to insist that the Portuguese star turned agent doesn’t work for the club in any official capacity, however it’s not hard to imagine the influence an ex-professional player of the club of such status holds in and around the boardroom, and his connections may yet prove decisive in dictating Raphinha’s increasingly likely summer move.
Bayern Munich and Liverpool are some of the other European heavyweights to have been linked with Raphinha although neither submitted formal proposals, whilst West Ham were reported to have had a club record bid turned down during the January window.
Leeds do remain in a strong negotiating position for the 25-year-old, as his deal signed in the summer of 2020 runs until 2024 and has been confirmed to contain no minimum fee release clause assuming Leeds retain their Premier League status.
Whilst that is not yet confirmed it is looking a lot more stable after last-gasp victories against Norwich and Wolves respectively and leaves the Whites’ in a strong position at the negotiating and league table.
However with seemingly no progress made on negotiations for a new deal and the risk of the player running down his contract next season, this upcoming window will probably be the best time for Leeds to gain maximum value on their prized asset.
