Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted that Raphinha is keen on joining the Catalan giants this summer ahead of other suitors in the race which includes Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea.
Raphinha was a top target for Tuchel who is on the hunt for reinforcements to bolster his attacking lineup and the Leeds United star was said to be closing in on making the move to Stamford Bridge.
A dramatic turn of events, however, saw Barcelona leapfrog Chelsea in the race with the player and his agent Deco pushing for the Camp Nou switch despite the Blues striking an agreement on a £55 million deal with Leeds.
Barca appear to be in the pole position to land the Elland Road wantaway star and the Spanish club’s president Joan Laporta sounded out optimism by confirming that their top target Raphinha is keen to sign for the La Liga giants
As quoted by a report from The Daily Mirror, Laporta said that Raphinha wants to make the move to Barcelona but other clubs such as the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal were involved in a bidding war.
“Raphinha wants to come at Barca.
“We have communication and have spoken with Leeds. What’s there is that there are other clubs that want Raphinha and are making their proposals.”
