Barcelona Set To Hijack Chelsea Deal With Leeds United For Raphinha.

Barcelona are set to hijack Chelsea deal with Leeds United for Raphinha, and are not giving up yet on the Brazilian star.

Chelsea had reportedly agreed a £50-55 million fee for Raphinha but have yet to agree personal terms with the player.

The Spanish giants have also declared readiness to launch a lucrative bid worth £51m up front with a further £9m to follow in add-ons to match the Blues offer, and with Barcelona always being his original destination, Chelsea could suffer a huge transfer blow.

Raphinha has had an agreement with Barcelona for some time, but there have been no further steps to sign him due to poor financial constraints.

Arsenal were also hopeful of taking advantage of Barca's crisis by signing Raphinha a few days back before Chelsea hijacked the deal.

The whole controversy surrounding this transfer, now look like a game of integrity, as Leeds United are trying to respect their agreement with Chelsea, while Raphinha on the other hand, is also trying to respect the agreement he had with Barca 4 months ago.

The Catalan giants have at least got the player's word that he will stick to his decision despite pressure from other clubs.

While Raphinha is open to a move to Stamford Bridge, his first choice has been a move to Barcelona.

His agent, a former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Deco, on Wednesday met with president Joan Laporta to discuss the situation.

Barcelona’s new bid may be high enough for Leeds to reconsider their stance.

The Catalan giants have somehow reportedly managed to win this battle. They have convinced Raphinha and Deco not to accept Chelsea's offer immediately and give them some time for manoeuvre.

The question is now long is how long the will the player wait to complete his dream move to the Camp Nou, or he just misses out on a big chance of going to a bigger club than Leeds.