Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Raphinha’s move away from Leeds has slowed after their asking price was revealed, but Arsenal may not be as put off by the fee as Barcelona are.
The Gunners are hotly in the hunt for reinforcements in attack, and the Brazilian is one that we have been keeping tabs on for some time.
The Catalan giants were believed to have been at the head of the queue this summer, with the club ready to trigger his relegation release clause, only for the Yorkshire club to escape the drop.
Transfer guru Romano now claims that they are asking for more than double that clause, which has setback Barca in their bid to land him.
Romano told CaughtOffside exclusively: “For Raphinha, negotiations between Barcelona and his agents have advanced since February but the €25 million (£21.6 million) clause will not be activated because Leeds are staying in the Premier League.
“Leeds are now asking for €55 million (£47.5 million) guaranteed and not paid in many instalments, which is why the deal has slowed down.
“Arsenal have been keeping tabs on Raphinha since March – he is one of the possibilities on the list but not the only one. The club is also focused on trying to find an agreement with Bukayo Saka to extend his contract.
“Personally, I think Raphinha is great to watch and he could be a great fit for Xavi’s project, but if things continue to stall there, it might be worth watching to see if he stays in the Premier League.”
Raphinha is definitely a talent, and would surely bring added competition to our attacking areas, and replacing Nicolas Pepe with him would prove to be a massive upgrade, but I can’t help but feel that we cannot afford to spend that much on the wings this summer.
Our wide areas are unlikely to be the focus of our summer spending, with a striker, a possible forward and a central midfielder likely to be the priority. Eddie Nketiah staying could mean that we just need the one forward/striker, but even then, we need to be bringing extra bodies into the squad as we look to return to play European football next term.
As much as I would love to see Raphinha come to compete with his international counterpart on the wings, I just don’t can’t see us shelling out that sort of fee for him, unless the club could view him as someone who could play centrally, which I’m not convinced of.
Do you think we should be willing to spend a good chunk of the budget on Raphinha?
Patrick
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