Wake-up call for David Moyes as transfer delegation heads to Leeds for meeting to sign West Ham target Raphinha.
West Ham were given serious new Raphinha hope over the weekend as Leeds set a transfer fee which reportedly ruled Barcelona out of a summer move.
West Ham were reportedly seriously keen to sign Leeds United’s Brazilian ace Raphinha during the January transfer window.
The likes of Sky Sports claimed that the Hammers wanted to sign the brilliant Leeds ace.
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).
Marcelo Bielsa brought the 25-year-old to Leeds in the summer of 2020 for around £17 million and he has established himself as one of the best players outside the top six.
West Ham also reportedly moved for Raphinha’s Leeds teammate Kalvin Phillips in January. And reports have abound since that Moyes will try again in the summer.
It seems West Ham’s big rivals in any bid for Raphinha are Barcelona, who have also been linked with the attacker since January.
An update on the situation from both The Athletic and Football Espana over the weekend gave West Ham hope as Leeds set out a £60m transfer fee which they claim rules out Barcelona – who are working under restricted transfer spending.
The fee is just £10m more than West Ham reportedly bid in January.
Football Espana reports that Barca had been confident of signing Raphinha for his £25m release clause had Leeds been relegated.
But the Elland Road outfit survived and now Leeds have set the big fee for their star player, who scored 11 goals and laid on three assists in the Premier League last season.
If West Ham do want to sign Raphinha, though, they need to get a serious move on.
There has been a big wake-up call for Moyes as a transfer delegation heads to Leeds for a meeting to sign West Ham target Raphinha.
Spanish site SPORT claim Barcelona’s sporting director Mateu Alemany has a meeting planned with the Leeds United hierarchy this week to push ahead with plans to sign Raphinha.
“SPORT have learned that Alemany will head to England next week, with the Premier League side currently demanding around €65 million (£60m) for the Brazil international,” SPORT reports.
“‘Operation Raphinha’ was on standby as Barça watched the relegation battle in the Premier League. If Leeds had gone down, then the forward’s release clause would have been €25m.
“With Leeds safe, though, Barça must now negotiate with Leeds, who, through their CEO, Angus Kinnear, are not happy with the ‘pause’ as Barça watched the season play out. Alemany’s task is now to restore a good atmosphere to talk with negotiations ongoing for months through the player’s agent, Deco, the former Barça midfielder and advisor to the club.”
Given the financial restraints on Barcelona and the fact West Ham boss Moyes saved his January money to – in his own words – go bigger in the summer, the Hammers could theoretically blow Barca out of the water by meeting the Leeds asking price.
With Barcelona looking to haggle it could open the door for West Ham. But the Spanish giants have made a pro-active first move with the window opening this week.