Tottenham’s interest in Raphinha will please both Tim Sherwood and Jamie O’Hara who have urged their former side to snap up the Leeds United man. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Antonio Conte’s side were one of three London-based clubs eyeing the winger after Barcelona decided to look for alternative options.
Catalan giants Barca have been heavily linked with a move for the 25-year-old, but their financial problems look likely to hinder a deal with the club now eyeing 34-year-old free agent Angel Di Maria. However, Spurs have joined Arsenal and Chelsea - who are prioritising Ousmane Dembele - in the race for the Leeds man, with a guarantee of Champions League football thought to give Conte’s side the edge.
The news of interest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will no doubt please the majority of fans - not least former manager Tim Sherwood and ex-player Jamie O’Hara, who have both previously lauded the 11-goal winger and urged their former side to make a move.
READ MORE: Tottenham and Arsenal target Leeds United winger Raphinha as Barcelona look for 'real alternative'
Sherwood, who managed Aston Villas as well as Spurs, said in March claimed Raphinha ‘could play anywhere in the Premier League’ and urged his former side to get a deal sorted.
“[It will be] very difficult to keep him. I’m not exaggerating to say he could play anywhere in the Premier League. There is not a team he wouldn’t fit. It depends how regularly he wants to play, and Leeds’ ambition,” Sherwood told the Sport Optus Analysis Show.
“He is only going to be a lot of money to buy, but it is worth it. He has shown that he can play in the Premier League, a low-risk signing. I’d like to have him at Tottenham, I think he’d be a great player at Tottenham.”
Leeds look set for a long and hard summer with speculation surrounding Raphinha, but the former Rennes man - signed for just £17million - is contracted at the club until 2024 and those in charge at Elland Road have made their demands clear. While the club are understanding of the winger’s desire to play in European football, they will not crumble to the pressure of a big club and are looking for between £60-70million to be paid upfront.
With performances likes the one at West Ham in January - a 3-2 win in which Jack Harrison’s hattrick caught attention, but Raphinha was in sublime form - that kind of fee is by no means speculative. And former Spurs full-back O’Hara admitted he would also love to see the winger at Spurs.
“He glides past people, the way he moves, the free kick he almost scored. Everything about his game…” O’Hara told TalkSPORT the day after the West Ham win. “I would love him at Spurs, I would love him. But I don’t know if he would ever come, and Leeds definitely wouldn’t sell him. Brilliant player.”
How serious the London club’s interest is in Raphinha remains to be seen, and Leeds fans will remain hopeful that the Brazilian’s favoured destination is the Nou Camp and that the player would rather stay in West Yorkshire for another season than go to Spurs or Arsenal. But the allure of Champions League football could prove too tempting to turn down for the player, and similarly, a bid of £60million hard for the club to refuse either.
