‘He didn’t like London’: Tim Vickery makes claim about £35m star Arsenal bid for

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Leeds United have sold Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City, but will Arsenal and Chelsea transfer target, Raphinha, follow suit in these coming weeks?

Well, the agent of the Leeds winger is Portuguese legend, Deco, who played for Chelsea in his career, but most importantly his success at Barcelona.

Tim Vickery has claimed that Deco has been in the ear of Raphinha telling his client how he ‘loved Barcelona’, but he ‘didn’t like London so much’, as he told Sky Sports.

Well, The Times recently reported that Arsenal had a bid of £35 million turned down from Leeds for their Brazil trickster – those in Yorkshire want £60 million for their player.

Nonetheless, this is what South American football expert, Tim Vickery, had to say about Raphinha’s future and the 25-year-old possibly heading to London.

“I think the one he wants is Barcelona,” said Vickery. “That’s the one he is waiting on. That’s why there is a delay here, he is waiting to see if Barcelona can get the finances to pull this one-off.

“Remember who his agent is, Deco. Now, Deco didn’t enjoy his time in London, either the football or off-the-field. He told the Brazilian media at the time that he thought London was a city to visit and not a city to live in.

“So, Raphinha has also got Deco in his ear saying ‘Deco loved Barcelona and didn’t like London so much’.”

HOW WILL LEEDS COPE WITHOUT RAPHINHA AND PHILLIPS?

Whilst Phillips missed parts of last season through injury, Raphinha played for the majority of the campaign and his 11 Premier League goals played a huge part in the team securing their safety.

Jesse Marsch is very new to the Premier League and even for the most experienced coach, this Leeds gig is a pretty tough one.

Not only does he have to deal with a team that struggled last season, but one that conceded a lot of goals and will now be without their star men.

The Whites aren’t sitting back because they have been pro-active in the transfer market, but it will be a big mental battle for the team next season.

If the Yorkshire outfit can start off the 2022/23 season in a strong fashion, then it will ease the pressure on the players and stop the talk of how they will cope without the above duo.