Leeds United will continue in the Premier League next season after avoiding relegation on the last day of the season.
The Whites’ survival has not been well received by Barcelona. They are keen to sign Raphinha and could have taken him for €25-30m, had the English club had dropped to the second division.
On Monday, both Sport and Mundo Deportivo reported it will now be difficult for the La Liga side to negotiate with Leeds United for the winger. Later that day, Marca explained the Catalan club could still ‘launch’ an effort to sign the 25-year-old.
Ousmane Dembélé’s contract at the Camp Nou expires on June 30th and as it stands, he is set to leave the club as a free agent. Mundo Deportivo on Tuesday state the Brazilian is the ‘safe bet’ to cover Dembélé’s exit.
The ex-Rennes man’s ‘price has increased’ after Leeds United avoided relegation, but the ‘operation continues’. Xavi Hernández’s side trust the new asking price ‘will not skyrocket’ as speculated and they will ‘accelerate negotiations’ to secure the winger’s services.
Barcelona sources have informed the newspaper that Raphinha will arrive at the club. The two parties have already reached a ‘verbal agreement’ through his agent, Deco.
A few weeks ago, there was mention of a first insufficient offer from the Blaugrana and Leeds United raising their minimum demands to €40m. 
Jesse Marsch’s side ‘would no longer be outright ruling out’ including a player as part of the deal for Raphinha, but no names have filtered out so far. The operation will now ‘gain momentum with new contacts and meetings’, with Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff leading the negotiations for Barcelona.
