Chelsea had Raphinha in their grasp before Barcelona played spoilsport. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Sport(h/t football.london), Leeds United winger Raphinha has asked his agent, Deco to stop a potential move to Chelsea as he prefers a move to Barcelona. This comes after Chelsea was said to have agreed to a fee with Leeds for the Brazilian.
Barcelona had agreed to personal terms with the Brazilian’s agent four months ago, but given their financial woes, it has been a difficult time for the Catalunyan club to arrange the funds to facilitate his transfer. But now it seems that the La Liga giants are close to agreeing to a fee with Leeds, as per Gerard Romero(h/t football.london).
Raphinha signed for the West Yorkshire side in 2020 from Stade Rennais. The 25-year-old has been a key figure for the club since his arrival. His 11 goals and three assists in 35 league appearances helped the Whites avoid relegation last season.
This has become a very peculiar situation for all parties involved. Chelsea have an agreement with Leeds but not the player, while Barcelona has an agreement with the player and not Leeds.
Thomas Tuchel, who is currently overseeing a squad revamp at Stamford Bridge, would be well served to bring in his targets soon. Having already seen senior players Antonio Rudiger and Romelu Lukaku depart this summer, reinforcements cannot come in soon enough.
Chelsea found it difficult to find the back of the net last season. This cost the club some crucial points and they also ended up losing both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup to Liverpool. Tuchel has been meaning to solve this problem with the club being linked to quite a few attackers this summer.
But that seems to have taken a drastic turn and not one in Chelsea’s favour. Raphinha has made his stance clear if the reports above are true. And we think it is time Chelsea make theirs clear too. They should give a deadline to the player to sign for them or start finding another target.
Raheem Sterling is close to joining the Blues, as per reports. This should give a boost to Chelsea to go for players who prefer the club and not some who are keeping them as back-up. A club of such stature as Chelsea should not entertain such whimsies of the players.
This would also help send out a message to everyone that no player is bigger than the club. There is no doubt that Raphinha would be a fantastic acquisition for the Blues, but not at the cost of such disrespect.
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