Raphinha to FC Barcelona now ‘imminent’
Soccer Football - Premier League - Brentford v Leeds United - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - May 22, 2022 Leeds United's Raphinha celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Fabrizio Romano has reported that Raphinha now sees a move to FC Barcelona as “imminent”, with the Catalan side offering a ‘final verbal proposal’ of 72 million euros guaranteed, which at the time of writing is equal to almost £61 million. This is also slightly above Chelsea’s reported offer of £60 million.
It seems unlikely that Chelsea will follow up with an improved offer as it is clear which club Raphinha would prefer: he wants to join the Blaugrana, and has had personal terms agreed with the club for months – this is his ‘biggest dream’, continuing a star-studded dynasty of Brazilians at the Camp Nou which include his agent Deco, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Dani Alves and Neymar.
Ronaldinho is a hero to Raphinha, and their connection was demonstrated by this touching tribute.
Raphinha was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil—just like his idol, Ronaldinho. His family and theirs are friends.
When the Leeds winger scored on Monday night, he hit Ronaldinho's celebration and revealed a tribute to the legend's mother, who passed away last week 🙏 pic.twitter.com/brENLBMCAo
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 24, 2021
Other stars to have played for Barcelona include Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Junior Firpo.
While this is not yet an official bid from Barça, it is expected to become one soon and Leeds are expected to accept. How they have the money to complete this deal is anyone’s guess, but once it is in the hands of Leeds United, it is no longer Leeds’ problem. The club, once this deal is completed, can focus on other things: whether another winger will now be signed is unclear but Leeds’ top target seems to currently be a striker.