Barcelona have taken the necessary steps to seal the deal for Leeds United star Raphinha this summer.
Sportitalia journalist Gianluigi Longari, who has been covering the case for a while, now states the La Liga side have made a new bid to the Whites and the two sides are ‘really close to a total agreement’ for the winger’s transfer.
Longari didn’t provide details of the offer. His claim has been echoed in the Catalan press by Sport on Saturday.
They state Barca have made the ‘final offer’ of €55m plus bonuses and are awaiting a response from Leeds. This figure is lower than the €65m bid proposed by Chelsea, but the Catalan club have the advantage of the Brazil international wanting to join them this summer.
Raphinha was expected to join the group on July 12th, but has already started training with the Whites.
The Premier League side are scheduled to fly to Australia on Sunday. Sport explain Leeds United’s idea is to make a decision in the ‘next few hours’ so the 25-year-old doesn’t have to be part of the pre-season trip.
After Leeds informed the South American they were going to accept Chelsea’s offer, he asked Barca to make an effort to secure his services. That effort has been made now with an offer of €55m plus bonuses.
Confirmed 👌 New bid to #Leeds from #Barcelona for #Raphinha. Now the two camps are really close to a total agreement https://t.co/FVY9RhMTSX
— Gianluigi Longari (@Glongari) July 8, 2022
With this new movement, the newspaper states there is some optimism at the Camp Nou the former Rennes man will become a Barcelona player.
Sport states: ‘The player’s fixation on playing at the Camp Nou and Leeds’ willingness to accept the transfer will do the rest for Raphinha to be a culé shortly.’
