Alemany will meet Leeds next week as Barça up Raphinha interest

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Alemany will meet Leeds next week as Barça up Raphinha interest

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The Catalan club will turn to the Brazilian to replace the likely departure of Dembele

Barcelona's sporting director Mateu Alemany has a meeting planned with the Leeds United hierarchy to push ahead with plans to sign Raphinha, the player chosen to replace Ousmane Dembele.

SPORT have learned that Alemany will head to England next week, with the Premier League side currently demanding around €65 million for the Brazil international.

'Operation Raphinha' was on standby as Barça watched the relegation battle in the Premier League. If Leeds had gone down, then the forward's release clause would have been €25m.

With Leeds safe, though, Barça must now negotiate with Leeds, who, through their CEO, Angus Kinnear, are not happy with the 'pause' as Barça watched the season play out.

Alemany's task is now to restore a good atmosphere to talk with negotiations ongoing for months through the player's agent, Deco, the former Barça midfielder and advisor to the club.

Barça don't want to match Leeds' €65m asking price and believe around €40m is fair. There is also the opportunity to include players, such as Oscar Mingueza, in a potential deal.

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