Arsenal looked all set to sign Raphinha from Leeds United, however, Chelsea have staged the perfect coup in this transfer race.
The Blues have made a last-ditch effort to sign the Leeds United winger and this move has paid off because as per Fabrizio Romano, the winger is likely to join Chelsea and not Arsenal.
He wrote on Twitter: “Chelsea and Leeds have reached full agreement for Raphinha! Official bid accepted around £60/65m [add ons included]. Main part of amount to be paid immediately. It’s done between clubs.
“Talks now ongoing on player side on personal terms and contract. Boehly, on it.”
Now, all that’s remaining is to agree on personal terms and Romano is claiming that Chelsea are wasting no time as they have already sent an official proposal to Raphinha and his agent to discuss personal terms.
Chelsea are waiting for Raphinha’s answer. Been told Deco has direct talk with Chelsea scheduled tomorrow 🚨 #Raphinha
Talks still on, after agreement with Leeds [£60m].
Barcelona and Arsenal will try until the end.
Reminder: Barça agreed personal terms with Deco 4 months ago. pic.twitter.com/yCWYRIdkRE
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 29, 2022
3 possible reasons why Raphinha will Chelsea over Arsenal:
It’s very hard to assume that these talks will collapse now because Raphinha should be agreeing to the personal terms very easily and one of the major reason why Chelsea have been able to hijack this deal is due to the winger’s agent.
Raphinha’s agent is Deco who happens to be an ex-Chelsea player. Deco had spent two seasons with the Blues and we think his good connections with the club have been a key factor pushing Arsenal down the pecking order.
The second reason was echoed by Danny Murphy a few days ago when he had claimed that Raphinha is waiting for a better offer than Arsenal.
He had told talkSPORT: “Talking about Raphinha, he has not gone there, has he? I think he will be waiting for a bigger one than that, Raphinha.”
His prediction was spot on because as soon as Chelsea came into the picture, immediately Arsenal became the second favourite. With Arsenal, Raphinha would have been playing in the Europa League but at Stamford Bridge, he will get the chance to rub shoulders with the big boys of Europe.
The third reason why Raphinha has or possibly will choose Chelsea and not Arsenal is that he will get a lot more chances to play regular football under Thomas Tuchel.
Romelu Lukaku will be moving to Inter and the Chelsea boss is also planning to get rid of players like Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech. In such a scenario, it will be a lot easier for the Leeds winger to come in and settle down.
However, at Arsenal, he will have to fight with the young and talented Bukayo Saka for a place in the starting lineup.
