Transfer News: Chelsea target Raphinha pushing for Barcelona move.
According to the Daily Star, Leeds United have opened contract negotiations with winger Raphinha to try and fend off interest from Premier League clubs Liverpool and Chelsea, with both clubs seeking attacking reinforcements at the end of the season.
The winger moved to the Premier League in 2020 and has taken to the league like a duck to water, terrorising opposition defences. So far this season, Raphinha has racked up eight goals and two assists in 19 appearances for Leeds.
It is reported that Leeds are now offering him a renewed contract worth around £100,000-a-week to keep him at the club, amidst reported interest in the player from a number of leading clubs, such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Raphinha has become a fan favourite at Elland Road and is easily one of the best players to have played under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. Such is the interest from other clubs that despite Raphinha still having more than three years on his current deal, the club is willing to do whatever it takes and hand him a bumper new contract to keep him beyond the end of the season.
The Brazilian has seen his stock in world football rise since his move to the Premier League. His performances even saw him called up for the Brazilian national team, taking his talents to the international stage. With Bayern Munich also said to be interested in the 25-year-old, it is safe to say that the player has now arrived and is amongst the in-demand attackers in world football.
With Leeds reportedly set to nearly double his wages, the club is desperate to kill two birds with one stone. In securing Raphinha’s long-term future at Elland Road, they hope that it will also persuade Bielsa to remain with them beyond this season. The manager has been responsible for their rise from the lower leagues to the top-flight and is adored by the Leeds faithful.
Although Chelsea boasts of a wealth of attacking talent, we cannot really pick out any one player as our regular outlet for goals. It is bizarre that midfielder Jorginho’s name pops up on a list of top scorers for the Blues when we have world top class forwards at our disposal.
One possible reason that our attackers have not threatened other top-flight defences this season may be down to the fact that we have English imports up front, lacking the Premier League experience required to break down opposition rearguards. Kai Havertz and Timo Werner impressed in the Bundesliga, while Romelu Lukaku, despite boasting of years of experience in England, has not clicked at all since his return to the country.
It is safe to say that our attack needs a bright spark to shake things up, and Raphinha could be a fine addition to our squad. The Brazilian sensation only seems to get better each week and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
The fact that Leeds have gone all out to keep hold of the player shows how highly they rate him. This could be a lesson that Chelsea could learn, given that they look set to lose up to three senior defenders in the summer due to a standstill in contract negotiations.
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