We begin this morning with a rumour that’s barely a rumour: Raphinha’s move from Leeds to Barcelona is nearly done, the fee £49m potentially rising to £57m. This will disappoint both Arsenal and Chelsea, who were interested in the player and, if Bayern Munich are to be believed, potentially disappoint Leeds too, given their belief that the Catalan club are so skint they might not exist in a year or two. Football is the winner.
On which subject Chelsea are, apparently, trying to muscle in on Barça’s bid to sign Robert Lewandowski. Though the player originally had eyes for the Camp Nou alone, he is now sufficiently aggravated by the selfishness suffusing the German champs that even the prospect of a 493rd consecutive Bundesliga title cannot persuade him to remain in Bavaria.
