Football
Deco to reopen Chelsea talks over Raphinha
Raphinha’s agent Deco has given Barcelona 48 hours to agree a deal with Leeds United or he will reopen talks with Chelsea.
The Brazil international has made no secret, privately, of his desire to join the Catalan giants, despite significant interest from the Blues and their London rivals Arsenal.
Chelsea appeared to be in pole position to sign the 25-year-old when they agreed a fee with Leeds, but the player has been desperately holding our for a move to cash-strapped Barcelona.
The Catalan giants submitted a fresh offer earlier this week, understood to be around £47million, but it still fell short of Leeds’ asking price and Chelsea’s most recent bid.
Frustrated at the situation having reached deadlock, Deco, the former Chelsea and Barcelona, wants a resolution one way or the other by the start of next week, according to Goal Brazil.
Raphinha, meanwhile, has not been selected in Leeds’ pre-season tour and the club’s manage Jesse Marsch revealed this week that the winger’s situation could be sorted imminently.
Addressing Raphinha’s future, Marsch said: ‘It hasn’t been an easy time for him this summer, things have come and gone and there’s been a lot of little discussions.
‘Right now he’s our player, he showed up today [Thursday] and trained with everybody. He had such a good attitude. We had a very open and honest conversation about while he’s here he’s part of us and we’ll see what happens.
‘There’s still a long way to go in the transfer window, I know he has hopes and dreams and we’ll see how everything goes.
‘I said to him, I know he loves this team, this club and being here but we’ll see how things progress day by day.
‘I think we just have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of days. There’s urgency from his end I think to come up with a solution and then we have to see where things stand and then make that decision.’
