West Ham United failed with a January move for Leeds United star Raphinha but are now back in the race for his signature this summer.
Shock reports emerged from 90Min in January suggesting that West Ham had failed with a £50million approach for Raphinha.
Whilst Raphinha being linked with a move away from Leeds wasn’t a shock, few expected West Ham to target him.
Factor in that West Ham already have a left-footed, right-sided winger in Jarrod Bowen and a move for Raphinha is a surprise.
Still, West Ham tried their luck with a January move and Leeds unsurprisingly said no to that kind of deal.
Leeds couldn’t afford to sell Raphinha as they battled against relegation so West Ham were effectively brushed off.
Fast forward a few months and it seems that West Ham’s interest hasn’t waned.
Catalan newspaper SPORT claim that West Ham have approached Raphinha again in the hope of convincing him to join them.
As things stand though, Raphinha is waiting for Barcelona to make a move for him this summer.
Barcelona have a major interest in signing Raphinha with loanee Adama Traore set to return to Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer.
The Brazilian ace is seemingly very interested in a switch to the Camp Nou and Barcelona are ready to make their move.
That means West Ham currently seem like a backup option to Raphinha and you could hardly blame the Hammers for moving on to other targets.
Raphinha has been a ‘revelation’ since joining Leeds, as coined by Robbie Keane, and he has taken the Premier League by storm.
The 25-year-old has racked up 16 goals and 12 assists in 61 Premier League outings for Leeds, providing incredible skill and guile in the final third.
Raphinha will likely leave Leeds at some point in the next year or so, but it’s currently hard to see him picking West Ham.
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