Arsenal target ‘wants to seal move’ before end of this month

Arsenal target Raphinha is unwilling to wait for Barcelona and wants to move to the Emirates before the end of this month. The Leeds United attacker is keen to sort out his future soon, which has seen Mikel Arteta’s side jump ahead in the race. 

As per a report in GOAL, Raphinha was interested in moving to Barcelona, but the Catalan side are yet to solve their financial crisis. They saw him as a potential replacement for Ousmane Dembele, who is out of contract this summer. 

The report claims Arsenal have now jumped ahead in the race and will be looking to seal the move this week. GOAL add that the Leeds star is willing to join Mrteta’s side and his agent, Deco, is already in talks with the Gunners. 

Leeds United were looking for €50 million to sell the winger, but Barcelona are not in a position to complete the deal. Arsenal and other clubs were keen to take advantage of the winger’s reported €25 million clause if his side got relegated last season, but they managed to survive. 

Chelsea were also said to be in the running for the Brazilian, but they have shifted their focus on Raheem Sterling. Reports suggest Bayern Munich had agreed a €50 million deal for him in the January window, but that move did not materialize.  

Liverpool were also linked with the Brazilian, before they made a move to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica.