Barcelona Close In On Deal For Arsenal Target Raphinha

Barcelona and Leeds United are close to finalising a deal for Arsenal target Raphinha, according to reports from Spain.

Trusted reporter Gerard Romero writes that Barcelona and Leeds are about to close a deal for Raphinha.

Barcelona finally appear willing to come close to Leeds' demands, offering a fee of around €60m.

Raphinha has already agreed terms with the La Liga club on a salary of around €6m net per season.

Romero writes that Raphinha turned down an offer from Newcastle United in recent days, but it's widely reported that the bulk of the Premier League interest has come from Arsenal and Chelsea.

At one stage, it looked as if Arsenal were in the lead for the transfer, but then news broke of Chelsea agreeing a fee with Leeds.

If Raphinha had accepted personal terms with the Blues, he'd be playing for them right now.

Instead, the winger stalled in the hope of another move from Barcelona, which promptly arrived in the last few days.

Fabrizio Romano reports that the Barcelona deal isn't done quite yet.

Leeds are reportedly insisting that they've only accepted Chelsea's £60m bid, not Barcelona's bid of €50m plus €10m in add-ons.

But Raphinha won't accept Chelsea's offer until the Barcelona situation is resolved.

Arsenal fans will likely be happier to see Raphinha move to Barcelona than join another London club.

It's one thing to lose out to the player's dream club in another league, it's another thing to have your deal hijacked by a direct local rival.

Either way, there doesn't seem to be any chance of an Arsenal revival in the race right now.

Whether the price is simply too high, or Arsenal feel they'll be unable to convince Raphinha to pick them over the alternatives, there are no reports of another Gunners bid for the signing.

Mikel Arteta and Edu will have to turn to other targets, as they look to sign a winger before the end of the summer window.