Arsenal Still Keen on Raphinha but Chelsea and Barcelona Ahead in Race

The tussle between Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona for Leeds United attacker Raphinha continues to rage on with the final destination of the Brazilian ahead of the 2022/23 season still remaining a mystery. The Gunners are still interested in signing the Whites forward, but are waiting for the player’s decision, as per latest reports.

The North London outfit have already completed four signings, Gabriel Jesus being the latest, but are looking to add more firepower to their frontline while Leeds superstar, Raphinha keeps attracting concrete interests from various elite clubs across Europe.

The Athletic reported last month that Leeds United are respectful towards the player and are willing to accept his wish to leave the club to fulfill his ambitions, but only when their valuation is met. Their asking price for the player happens to be somewhere around the £60 million mark.

Raphinha, Arsenal — Image Obtained via Bavarian Football Works

Considered steep for some, affordable for others, there is no denying that the 25-year-old winger is hot property right now. The clubs in question surrounding the Raphinha transfer saga are Barcelona, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

According to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Jesse Marsch’s side have accepted Chelsea’s £60 million bid for Raphinha. The deal has been agreed upon in principle between the two clubs but the problem arises when the player’s wishes are taken into account. The Blues are waiting for a response.

The Brazilian has always wanted to play for the Catalan giants. Raphinha and his agent, Deco, have had an agreement with Barcelona for a while now which is the only reason why a move to either Chelsea or Arsenal hasn’t materialized, as reported by MARCA. The question now remains is, how long is the player prepared to wait for his dream club.

Meanwhile, the Catalan giants finally came up with an offer for the winger. According to Spanish journalist Gerard Moreno (via Barca Universal) Barcelona are offering €50 million plus €10m in bonuses to Leeds United for the Brazilian’s services. However, it falls short of Chelsea’ offer and the Whites have turned it down.

Raphinha, hoping for Barcelona move with 5 year deal ready since March – no final answer sent to Chelsea yet, waiting for Barça. 🇧🇷 #FCB

Barcelona bid last Thursday: €50m plus €10m add-ons, paid in installments.

Leeds insist they only accepted Chelsea bid for £60m, as of now. pic.twitter.com/Q3NAuW4FUA

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 1, 2022

In this situation, the Gunners seem to be functioning on a handicap. Neither has the player expressed explicitly any wish to play for the Gunners nor can the club offer him CL football. This is why, according to Ben Jacobs of CBS Report (via Daily Cannon) Arsenal Sporting Director, Edu, is wary of submitting another bid for Raphinha as the player might prefer Chelsea or Barcelona.

The North London side earlier had a £35m bid rejected by Leeds United. Moreover, it would not be easy to convince the player to move to the Emirates even if Arsenal match Chelsea’s offer. Thus, Edu wants clarification from Deco whether the 25-year-old will be willing to join the Gunners.

Arsenal still haven’t made another official offer yet. Told Edu is wary before getting clarity on the situation from Deco. He doesn’t want to waste time if Raphinha prefers #CFC. But again, right now Raphinha hasn’t fully decided. Big day ahead.

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 30, 2022

The Blaugrana want to pay the transfer fee in installments which is not a problem for Leeds but the Premier League club want more money as a guaranteed transfer fee. That is creating an issue on Barcelona’s side as they have other targets to invest in. Raphinha is being made to wait while the Spanish club try to organize their limited budget so that they can also sign Robert Lewandowski, who remains another key target for them.

It is unknown if Barca will increase their offer and therefore, Raphinha is currently in limbo. He has to choose to either wait for the club he wishes to play for to come up with a better offer or move to a club whose bid Leeds have accepted. No doubt Chelsea can also offer him Champions League football as well as higher wages.

Leeds could be hoping for a bidding war if the Gunners were to increase their bid. However, it seems highly unlikely that Arsenal would offer anything more than matching Chelsea’s bid. David Ornstein of The Athletic speculated that Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel might want to use the Brazilian as a wing-back whereas the Leeds star would be offered his preferred offensive wing position at Arsenal.

However, even with that, the lack of Champion League football remains a big hurdle to overcome. At the end of the day, the deal really depends on whether Raphinha is prepared to wait for an improved offer from Barcelona or whether he would give up on his dream and settle for a lucrative move to Chelsea or Arsenal.

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