Barça awaits Raphinha's arrival in Barcelona this afternoon

Raphinha could be announced as a new Barça player in the next few hours. The Brazilian is scheduled to land in Barcelona this afternoon and will undergo a medical tomorrow before signing a contract for the next five seasons. As per the plan, Raphinha could likely be presented this Friday and leave the next day with his new teammates for their pre-season tour of the United States.

His signing was finalized last night for around 55 million euros plus ten million euros in variables. Since last Friday, there was already a pre-agreement between the clubs, with the final offer officially sent by the Spanish club. A few final details had yet to be agreed upon, which have been delayed by financial imbalances as Barcelona were awaiting the activation of the second lever.

Both Leeds and Barça were interested in closing the deal as soon as possible and the English club already gave the green light last night to Raphinha to travel, although he will not take a plane until this afternoon due to logistical problems. The signing of Raphinha was one of the requests of Xavi Hernandez, who wanted a versatile player on the wing, to be able to play with open wingers. His arrival and the renewal of Dembélé are likely to seal the departure of Memphis in this market and a loan move for Abde might be sought out.