Liverpool are reportedly leading the transfer race to sign Leeds United winger Raphinha, who is also being targeted by Manchester United and Manchester City.
According to reputed Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari on Twitter, Liverpool are currently ahead of the chasing pack that includes Manchester United and Manchester City, in the pursuit of Leeds United’s Brazilian winger Raphinha.
The 24-year-old arrived at Leeds United during the last summer transfer window from Ligue 1 club Rennes and enjoyed a fine breakthrough campaign in England. Indeed, Raphinha ended 2020/21 with six goals and nine assists from 30 Premier League appearances, impressing the onlookers with his pace, trickery and quality end product.
Naturally, the bigwigs are starting to circle as Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City have all taken note of the winger’s performances and are lining up to sign him this summer.
For Liverpool, the interest in Raphinha makes a great deal of sense considering that they appeared over-reliant on star man Mohamed Salah during the 2020/21 season. While new signing Diogo Jota did impress, Sadio Mane underwhelmed big time while the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hardly made any contributions of note.
With Shaqiri expected to be on his way out this summer, there is room for Liverpool to add another wide player to their ranks, who can take the pressure off of Salah and grow into a key player at Anfield, making Raphinha a viable target.
Manchester United, meanwhile, are still looking for a solution to their right-wing woes that have plagued them for years now. Last summer, the Red Devils spent the entire window pursuing Jadon Sancho but their attempts proved futile. And even though they are continuing to be linked with a move for the England international this time out as well, it seems like they are keeping their options open.
Indeed, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer & co. are looking at alternatives such as Villarreal’s Samu Chukwueze, while Leeds’ Raphinha would also be a suitable Plan B for United to consider. Moving on to Manchester City, while at first their interest in the 24-year-old Brazilian might seem baffling, it must be noted that the newly-crowned Premier League champions could be set to offload some of their players this summer.
Raheem Sterling, for one, has been heavily linked with an exit, with Arsenal touted to be his next destination while the likes of Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez are also facing uncertain futures at the Etihad. Should even one of the three players depart, there will be a vacancy in the attacking unit that someone like Raphinha could fill.
However, if Gianluigi Longari is to be believed, both the Manchester clubs could be set for disappointment as Liverpool are said to be currently leading the chase for the Leeds United star. However, the Italian journo does add that any deal for the winger will be difficult and complicated given as the Whites have absolutely no intentions of selling him. It now remains to be seen if any of the aforementioned clubs do end up signing the Brazilian.