With Barcelona reportedly reaching an agreement with Leeds United for the signing of Raphinha, more articles are appearing about how it all came about.
Monday morning saw Mundo Deportivo and Sport disagree on how close the deal was, but the latter, who were very optimistic, continue that trend later on in the afternoon.
They explain the steps taken by the player to ensure he would be sold to the La Liga side this summer, with ‘one of his first decisions’ being, when he returned to Leeds from his break, to tell Jesse Marsch that ‘he didn’t want to play for Leeds anymore’.
He said that ‘he considered his time at Elland Road was over, that he had no motivation to continue a third season at the club and that his only wish was to go to Barcelona as soon as possible’.
Described as a ‘frank conversation, with a very cordial tone’, the chat between the two men was also a ‘clear message in which there was no possibility of misinterpretation’.
This led to him being removed from the tour to Australia, as he remained behind at Leeds’ training ground to keep his fitness levels up.
Now, ‘everything indicates that he will play for Barcelona and will play the World Cup in Qatar as a starter with Brazil’.
When news reached him that the La Liga side had come in with their offer, and the ‘final stage of the operation arrived’, it was Raphinha himself who ‘acted to stop any possibility that his club would sell him to a Premier League team and to force his transfer to Barcelona’.
Now, ‘the only thing missing is for Leeds United to formally notify’ the Spanish club ‘that they accept the offer and make the transfer official.
In essence, ‘everything is imminent’.
