Raphinha’s agent, Deco, has today met with Barcelona to ‘clarify’ the situation around the Leeds United star after a bid from Chelsea.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who cover the ‘summit’ between the Catalans and their former star at the Nou Camp’s offices.
They explain that following Chelsea’s late bid for the Leeds United star, Deco met with Barcelona officials this morning to ‘clarify’ whether the La Liga giants would be ‘staying in the fight’ for the Brazilian.
It had been felt they were now out of the picture for Raphinha, who they’ve been chasing for months as a replacement for Ousmane Dembele, who is set to become a free agent later this week.
They’ve failed to get a deal over the line, and since then, Arsenal and now Chelsea have pushed to sign the Leeds star instead.
The Blues reportedly reached an agreement on a £60m deal last night, and now the player wants to know whether Barcelona will match that.
He’s always made Barca his ‘priority’, but it’s unclear whether the Blaugrana ‘will be able to fight’ for him with Chelsea.
Thus Deco, who was already in Barcelona last week to meet with Joan Laporta to discuss whether they would continue their chase of Raphinha, has been dispatched to clear things up.
This time around, Deco has been pictured with sporting vice-president Rafa Yuste, the director of football Mateu Alemany, the technical secretary, Jordi Cruyff and the assistant to the president, Enric Masip, hinting at extensive talks over the Leeds man.
Whether Barcelona will now match Chelsea’s effort remains to be seen, but Raphinha sending his agent to Barcelona would suggest he won’t be finalising a move to Stamford Bridge until he knows their position.
