Barcelona are inching closer to striking a deal to sign Chelsea target Raphinha after agreeing to meet Leeds’ £60m asking price for the winger,
Chelsea struck a deal with Leeds earlier this week and had hoped to beat Barcelona to Raphinha’s signature as the La Liga side were reluctant to increase their offer for the 25-year-old.
However, while Chelsea have been trying to strike an agreement over personal terms with the winger, Raphinha’s agent Deco has been speaking with Barcelona in an attempt to convince them to increase their bid and give Raphinha the dream move to Camp Nou that he has been angling for all summer.
Barcelona have upped their offer to the £60m mark that Leeds are looking for, agreeing to a payment plan to enable them to finance the deal over a number of years.
The Blaugrana are now understood to be leading the race for Raphinha’s signature, having reached an agreement over personal terms with the Leeds winger months ago.
Raphinha’s preference is to join Barcelona and, with an agreement between the two clubs now in place, the 25-year-old is close to making his move to Camp Nou.
Barcelona and Chelsea could be set to butt heads over a number of transfers this summer. The two clubs are both looking to sign Sevilla centre-back Jules Kounde as well, while Chelsea are also interested in Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski who, like Raphinha, has his heart set on Barcelona.
Talks between the two clubs have also been held over Blues duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, who both want to make the move to Camp Nou this summer and follow former team-mate Andreas Christensen, who has joined Barcelona on a free transfer.
