Despite an accepted offer from Chelsea, it appears Barcelona have beaten off the competition to sign Raphinha from Leeds United.
The Brazilian winger has attracted interest from several of the top clubs in the Premier League, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all rumoured to be interested. Chelsea were the only ones that acted on it, according to reports, with a deal of around €75m.
Yet so far Raphinha has rejected any personal advances from Chelsea, holding out hope that Barcelona could come to an agreement with Leeds.
On Tuesday, it appears they finally managed to do so. Sport, Mundo Deportivo and Fabrizio Romano all confirmed that a deal had been met between the two clubs.
The amounts did differ though. The Italian journalist reported the numbers at a €58m fixed fee with €10m in variables, while Mundo Deportivo and Sport had those figures at €58m + €7m and €55m + €10m respectively. All agreed that he would sign a deal until 2027.
Despite the inevitable euphoria that comes with a big signing and the quality player arriving at the club, there remains questions on the wisdom of the deal. It looks as if Ousmane Dembele may remain at the club and if that is the case, using significant resources on two players in the same position could come back to bite them in other parts of the pitch.
Raphinha to Barcelona, here we go! Full agreement reached with Leeds after today’s bid accepted: €58m fixed fee plus add-ons up to total €67m package. 🚨🔵🔴 #FCB
Raphinha only wanted Barça since February and he’s set to sign until June 2027, time for documents and contracts. pic.twitter.com/JtLXCXa03e
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 12, 2022
