A new Leeds United Raphinha update is good news for West Ham United but Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is lurking.
West Ham were reportedly seriously keen to sign Leeds’ Brazilian ace Raphinha during the January transfer window.
The likes of Sky Sports claimed that the Hammers wanted to sign the brilliant Leeds attacker.
And a number of sources reported West Ham saw a bid of £50m turned down by Leeds during the last knockings of the window (90 Min).
West Ham’s big rivals in any bid for Raphinha have been Barcelona, who have also been linked with the attacker since January.
An update on the situation from both The Athletic and Football Espana recently gave West Ham hope as Leeds set out a minimum £50-60m transfer fee which cast doubt over a move to Barcelona – who are working under restricted transfer spending.
The fee is the same kind of money West Ham reportedly bid in January – when Leeds were not open to selling as they fought relegation.
West Ham’s London rivals Arsenal have also been linked with an interest in Raphinha of late.
Arteta and Moyes are both desperate to sign a new striker. Raphinha can play as a forward although tends to be best suited to the wide attacking roles.
At Arsenal Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are two top talents occupy those positions so it could be Arsenal see Raphinha more as a forward.
But at West Ham the future of both Said Benrahma and Nikola Vlasic is in serious doubt with Moyes said to be willing to let both go.
So many believe Arsenal’s interest could be nothing more than transfer window rumour mill paper talk.
Now a new Leeds Raphinha update is good news for West Ham but Arsenal boss Arteta is lurking.
According to transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona had pre-agreed terms with the player’s agent back in February.
But Leeds are sticking to their guns over the fee they want for Raphinha.
And that can only be good news for West Ham as it would rule Barcelona out of the running, as previously reported by Football Espana.
But Arsenal’s interest is real according to Romano. West Ham’s interest is taken as read given the official bid in January and Romano references ‘Premier League clubs’ while naming Arsenal as keen.
Effectively it may come down to a shootout between West Ham and Arsenal for Raphinha purely because Barca cannot afford the deal.
“Raphinha deal; Barcelona have full agreement with his agent Deco since February on a five year deal but Leeds want €55m (£50m), no plan to change their price tag,” Romano said on Twitter.
“Barça need to be fast as Premier League clubs are back in the race, including Arsenal – but no bid submitted yet.”