Raphinha to skip Leeds pre-season tour to Australia

Raphinha will not participate in pre-season with Leeds United. The Brazilian forward will come back to the training ground on July 12, as he played for Brazil in June, while the team head to Australia two days earlier to play three friendlies on the other side of the world.

During this time Raphinha will train at the club’s facilities to keep in shape ahead of his big move, wherever that may be to. Leeds will come back to England by the end of the month, by when the Brazilian hopes to be at a new club.

They face Brisbane Roar on the 14th, Aston Villa on the 17th and Palace on the 22nd, all in Australia. However, it also seems hard for Raphinha to complete a deal by the time Barcelona head to the USA on tour.

The Catalans are confident they can seal his signing, independently of whether Ousmane Dembele stays or not. Raphinha wants to leave Leeds and come to Camp Nou. But matching Chelsea’s financial muscle is hard for the Catalans.

However, the desire of the winger does influence the talk. If it weren’t for his desire to play for Barcelona, Leeds would accept Chelsea’s offer long time ago. But if Raphinha will be clear that he wants to join Barcelona and only Barcelona it’s possible. And with 2 years left on his contract, Leeds would have a last chance to get a big profit on Raphinha this summer. Next summer he would cost much much less.