Barcelona’s director of football is due to fly to England next week and meet Leeds United to try and manufacture a deal for Raphinha, according to reports. Catalan daily paper SPORT have said that Mateu Alemany will fly to the UK next week in order to try and secure the Brazilian’s services, with the club remaining stubborn on their financial terms.
Barcelona have been heavily linked with the 25-year-old for some time, but those in charge at Elland Road have dug their heels in with a demand of £60-70 million paid upfront, with no consideration for instalments. The Catalan club’s financial troubles have been well documented and it could be that they simply cannot afford that amount upfront, but Alemany will be hopeful an in-person meeting could soften Leeds’ stance.
Reports suggest that Barcelona consider something around £30-35 million a fairer price, but Leeds don’t look like budging from their valuation and there are no obvious player-plus-cash deals that can help the Spanish club.
