Good Morning. It's Wednesday 22nd June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Arsenal now favourites to sign Raphinha Odds of Raphinha joining Barcelona have taken a sharp nosedive after it was revealed by 'The Athletic' that Arsenal have submitted a formal offer for the Brazilian International winger. Whilst the bid was turned down flat, the Gunners are expected to pursue their target. Up until Recently, Barcelona were odds on favourites to land the 26yo, but a lack of spending power has halted them in their tracks, allowing other clubs to muscle in. Whilst Raphinha's agent, Deco remains desperate for his client to join the Catalan giants, interest from Arsenal may convince Xavi to search elsewhere. The Gunners are currently 17/20 favourites to land Raphinha, whilst Barcelona's odds have drifted as far as 9/2. Those who believe he will stay at Elland Road this Summer can enjoy odds of 5/1. please log in to view this image Minamino Monaco bound Leeds Utd have conceded defeat in the quest to land Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino after the Merseyside outfit agreed a £15m deal with Monaco. It was hoped that Jesse Marsch could persuade the Japanese International to join Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen in joining him for a reunion, but the lure of the French Riviera has proved too much. Valentin Castellanos, Viktor Gyökeres, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Terem Moffi, Ben Brereton Díaz and Armando Broja continue to be linked to Leeds with Kalimuendo (£20m) and Castellanos (£15m) the more likely targets. please log in to view this image Could Nigerian winger replace Raphinha this Summer Leeds are understood to be weighing up a bid for Nigerian International winger Moses Simon. The soon-to-be 27yo applies his trade with Ligue 1 outfit Nantes, joining them in 2019 (initially on loan) from Spanish side Levante Unión Deportiva. After bursting through the academy ranks at Ajax nearly ten years ago, Simon enjoyed successful spells in Slovakia and Belgium, where he helped Gent win the Belgian Pro League and Super Cup in 2015. He only has twelve months left on his four-year contract, so is available at the cut down price of £9m. Simon has over 50 caps for Nigeria, and played a part at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year. He has exceptional skill and pace, unusual for a player who is only 5ft 5'. Several media reports are indicating that Simon could be bought in to replace Raphinha. Whilst I'm sure he'd be a decent addition to the squad, I can't help feeling a little underwhelmed, if true. Club Brugge's Loa Lang and Schalke's Rabbi Matondo continue to be linked with a move to Elland Road for the right wing role. please log in to view this image
Good morning Elland and all who follow. I'd rather not sell to another Premiership club, but if we do, I hope we tell whoever does bid that it's 60 million that's it. If you want him then that's the price.
Morning all Raph going to Arsenal might not happen. Talk last night was that Arsenal made a bid and it got rejected. Minaimino going to Monaco is a disappointment as I wanted him to sign for us. I think we were linked with Simon in January or last summer. His name sounds really familiar. This must mean Traore will be a back up for Simon as we're 'pushing' hard for Traore's signature.
We would never go for Traore's signature as that would make a hat trick for Wolves of having our pants down , we would be the laughing stock of their boardroom. Good morning all.
Apparently the Arsenal bid was so low it was rejected straight away so considering Barca/Chelsea/Tottenham all want him they’ll have to up there bid. Favourites means nothing anyway, just means a lot of people have seen the rumours, put bets on him going to Arsenal so the bookies have slashed the odds. Can’t see us buying a 27 year old winger as I thought the plan was to buy young for cheaper and sell on for more, the Leicester model.
We will not buy another winger Even if Noah Lang is bought it would be because he can play as a 10. We have enough wingers and CBs so dont be fooled by bollox
Looks like Ryan Edmondson is about to join Carlisle on a permanent deal. Good luck to him, but whenever anyone is getting over excited about a youth player I like to go back and look at the tweets from 2019 saying we should get rid of Bamford and build a team around Edmondson.
Surely not? I’d expect 60-70 for Raphinha and at least 45-50 for Phillips. Got a feeling Raphinha will reject moves to PL teams and wait it out here for his Barca move. A reduced price in Jan or at the end of the season. Sounds like Deco promised him the move. Not sure if it would be better to get another season out of him which would chop his price in half or try to convince him out to get maximum value for him now.
Theres a photo doing the rounds of Barcelona president La Porte and Raphinha and Deco and Samuel Eto having a beer and a laugh in an outside pool area. Also Raphinha posted a cryptic message on social media “disappointments have to happen to to where you want to go”. I reckon that means he stays until January and then off to Barcelona on a reduced fee
If we only get 100 million for the two then we need to have a long inquest in to how that can possibly happen. Phillips is a regular starter for England. Any other England midfielder going for under 50 million? Rice, Mount, Bellingham, Ward-Prowse? Raphinha is a Brazilian international winger. Stand out in the PL for two seasons courted by the biggest clubs in Europe. Are we seriously just going to let him go for 50 million? I know they have contracts running low but we will have been royally ****ed over if it goes for under 100 million.
...and another thing, the likes of Dramah, Cresswell, Greenwood, Hjelde need looong contracts so we can loan them out. For example in Dramahs case his stock has risen significantly last season at Cardiff but he probably wants out of Leeds. He might just go on loan this season and then run his contract down and leave for free. That is a potential 7-15 million player probably gone for free.
I'd hope we'd get circa 130m - 140 for the pair, though most indicate we'll get 50m each. Seems like a forced sale price.
dont see us getting Raphinha - I just feel this whole thing is a smokescreen by his agent to get Barca to cough up for him. I would also be surprised if we pay £60m for him considering we have other priority positions that need strengthening.
