Chelsea Football Club hijacked Arsenal’s bid to sign Raphinha.
Chelsea Football Club are looking forward to welcoming their first signing ahead of the new season and new owner Todd Boehly’s era.
Chelsea have been very hesitant to make transfers during this summer transfer window because the club’s board wants to take a more systematic approach to signing players in order to avoid making the same mistake they made when signing Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli.
The exit of long-serving sporting directors Marina Granovskaia and technical and performance adviser Petr seems to be just a minor problem for the Todd Boehly-owned club in terms of transfers.
After several players, including the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Jules Kounde, Kalidou Koulibali, Raheem Sterling, and, to some extent, Neymar Junior and Cristiano Ronaldo, have been linked to the club, Chelsea are finally edging closer to signing 25-year old Brazilian winger Raphinha Dias Belloli from Leeds United. The left-footed, lethal and skillful forward featured in 35 matches in the just-ended Premier League season, scoring 11 goals and assisting 3. It was earlier reported that Arsenal were closing in on signing the Leeds number ten, but their verbal offer was so feeble and unenticing to the London-based club, Leeds, and hence they rejected the offer.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that both clubs have agreed on a deal worth £60-65 million to be paid on an installment basis. Personal terms will also be negotiated in due course with his agent, Deco, who’s also a former Chelsea midfielder.
Chelsea are looking forward to challenging for the English Premiership next season. The capture of the Brazilian forward will be a very solid addition to Chelsea’s frontline as he brings on board skills, pace and firepower and could also fit directly into the Chelsea setup as he needs just a little adaptation into the Chelsea squad.
Arsenal and Barcelona will have to look elsewhere in the market for a player of equal quality, as Chelsea and Raphinha appear to be diametrically opposed poles attracting each other!
By: Abass Amir Mohammed
