Throughout the past twelve months Raphinha has been constantly linked with a move away from Leeds United, with some of the biggest clubs in Europe seemingly tracking the Brazilian ever since his break out season in the Premier League.
Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Chelsea, and most recently Barcelona, have all been strongly linked with the 25 year old, who arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2020, however this morning’s edition of Spanish publication SPORT provides yet another update on Raphinha’s transfer saga.
According to SPORT, Raphinha has already said ‘yes’ to the proposed transfer to Barcelona, and will do ‘everything possible’ to ensure that a move to the Camp Nou will be fulfilled at the end of the season.
The report claims that the player himself considers ‘the time has come’ to make the step away from Leeds, and that Raphinha has asked his agent, Deco, to complete the transfer to one of his former clubs as he is ready to take the step up to an elite European club and play in European competitions.
Furthermore, SPORT state that Raphinha will not ‘position himself publicly’ and express his desire to move away from West Yorkshire to the media because of his respect for Leeds United and his current club contract, something which Leeds unsuccessfully attempted to renew, and will continue to play to his full capabilities for the club in an attempt to escape Premier League relegation.
Despite the Brazilian’s intention to move on, and a potential verbal agreement with Barcelona regarding a future deal, the agreement could be meaningless if Leeds and Barcelona fail to agree a fee for the player – something which the two clubs have not yet done.
Various Spanish media outlets believe that Barcelona will attempt to prise Raphinha away from Leeds in the summer by launching a €35million (£29million) bid – an offer which seems unlikely to be accepted given that the Brazilian arrived at Leeds for £17million two years ago and has seen his value dramatically increase since then.
With just 8 Premier League fixtures remaining for Leeds this season, it seems inevitable that Raphinha will move on come the end of the campaign, and despite Barcelona’s appeal to Leeds’ star man, it it yet to be seen if a move to the Nou Camp would be viable for Leeds, or if another of Europe’s elite will be the next destination for the Brazilian.
