Leeds and Raphinha ‘at impasse’ following disagreement over Chelsea transfer

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Leeds and their star attacker Raphinha are reportedly at an impasse over the Brazilian’s future with the winger keen to delay any decision over his next move. The 25-year-old, who struck 11 goals in the Premier League last season to keep his current side afloat, is believed to be holding out for his dream switch to Barcelona as the Catalan giants scrape together the cash to fund a deal.

On Tuesday evening, Leeds accepted an opening offer from Chelsea that blew fellow London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham out of the water.

An agreement – worth a total of £60m – was instantly struck as Leeds gave Raphinha the green light to discuss personal terms with the Blues.

However, there has been little progress on that front despite talks between Deco and Chelsea on Thursday as the Blues patiently await a positive outcome.

According to Goal, there are now tensions between Leeds and Raphinha, who is under pressure to join Chelsea.

Leeds want to push through the move so they can focus their efforts on strengthening their squad ahead of the new season.

Meanwhile, Raphinha is determined to give Barcelona the time to finance a move and if they were to match Chelsea’s offer, he would be headed for Spain.

There are huge doubts as to whether Barcelona can afford to pay that kind of cash though due to their ongoing financial struggles.

Yet if they were to sell Frenkie de Jong to Manchester United in due course, the deal would be very much within reach.

The question though, is whether Barcelona can beat the clock with Chelsea’s patience seemingly running thin.

Leeds too would like to receive the cash so they can put together moves for their top attacking targets which include Otavio, Cody Gakpo and Charles De Ketelaere.

Raphinha himself has remained quiet on the transfer saga and has not spoken in detail on his future.

Although the winger did declare that November’s World Cup would have some input on any decision he makes.

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He wants to ensure he is playing regularly heading into the tournament to strengthen his chances of starting for the Selecao.

Deco is thought to be in favour of helping former club Barcelona conclude a deal and clarity on the transfer saga is expected to arrive in the coming days.

He was spotted leaving Barcelona’s offices on Wednesday, where he had lunch with club officials Rafa Yuste, Mateu Alemany and Enric Masip.

It has been reported that he was also discussing other South American players that are of interest to Barcelona, in addition to Raphinha.

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