Leeds United and FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for Raphinha.
FC Barcelona and Leeds United have reached an agreement for the transfer of Raphinha.
The Brazil international has been the Blaugrana’s main target for the right wing this summer amid interest from other clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal.
Friday, SPORT reported that the Catalans have launched a final offer for the 25-year-old which could be accepted this weekend with Raphinha landing in Barcelona already on Monday to sign his contract.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Jacobs, who was one of the main reporters on the recent takeover of Chelsea by Todd Boehly’s consortium, Barca and Leeds have reached an agreement for the transfer of Raphinha.
It has been said before by SPORT that Barca’s final offer was €55 million ($55.6 million), which was well below Chelsea’s £55 million ($66 million) offer.
Other sources said Barca’s offer with add-ons was closer to what Chelsea had offered, but Jacobs claims the deal the La Liga giants and Yorkshiremen reached is something closer to that. 75 million euros ($76.4 million).
“Barcelona have always been confident they have Raphinha but it’s not true that the deal has been in place for weeks. Only tonight,” added Jacobs, with the general consensus being that Raphinha and his agent Deco have been waiting for Barca take a solid approach. because they are the player’s dream club.
Raphinha’s expected arrival had long been tipped to complicate matters for Ousmane Dembele, who became a free agent after June 30.
Still, there is said to be a desire to have both men in Xavi Hernandez’s first team if the numbers can work, and the Frenchman now looks set to stay at Camp Nou after all.
“Xavi has been pushing for Dembele’s contract to be approved for the past 48 hours. Barring a late twist, he will sign a two-year contract with a 40% pay cut,” Jacobs reveals in reference to this.
In Catalonia, it was pushed for a while that Dembele would receive something in the region of 6-7 million euros ($6.1-7.1 million) per season, which is more or less what teenage prodigies Ansu Fati and Pedri are currently reporting home.
