Leeds United star Raphinha wants to sort out his future with the club by Thursday when he will travel to link up with Brazil for their Asian tour.
That’s according to Sport, who say the Brazilian has aked those in charge at Elland Road ‘to transfer him’ to Barcelona.
The newspaper explains that Raphinha is ‘pushing’ for a move to the Nou Camp after keeping his promise of helping Leeds to stay in the Premier League.
The winger is a number one target for the Catalans, who have been eyeing up a move for months and were even secretly hoping Leeds would be relegated so they could get him for £25m.
That never happened, so a new deal will have to be negotiated, and reports yesterday stated that Raphinha’s agent was meeting with Leeds in the coming weeks to hash something out.
They report that Raphinha has ‘taken a step forward’ and told Leeds he wants to play in the Nou Camp next season.
Everyone at Elland Road is aware of his intentions, and he has ‘called on’ those in charge to reach an agreement with the La Liga giants.
He considers his time in the Premier League as over and is not willing to pass up the opportunity to play for Barcelona as he believes he can play an important role in their rebuild.
Thus his intention is to ‘clarify the negotiating scenario’ in the next few days, with him set to join Brazil on Thursday for their Asian tour. After that, he is set to go on holiday and seemingly doesn’t want to still be negotiating his departure.
Whether Leeds will grant him that remains to be seen, but it is felt the ‘professionalism’ he has shown in recent weeks and his efforts to keep them in the Premier League may help in negotiating his departure.
