Barcelona close on Ousmane Dembele new contract; Raphinha terms agreed
Ousmane Dembele is close to signing a two-year contract extension at Barcelona, 90min understands, with a deal for Leeds winger Raphinha also now agreed.
The summer transfer window headlines have been dominated by Barcelona, who despite being in complete financial disarray, are involved in a number of deals for some of the world's best players.
Discussions are ongoing with Manchester United over the potential sale of Frenkie de Jong, and even though president Joan Laporta has insisted that he doesn't want to let the Dutchman go, his departure could be pivotal to unlocking a number of other deals for Barca.
Among the Catalan giants' highest priorities is signing Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, but there's also been a renewed emphasis in recent weeks over tying Ousmane Dembele down to a new contract.
The French winger's Camp Nou career has been up and down to say the least and it has seemed a near certainty for months that he would be leaving the club as a free agent.
Chelsea have been leading the race for his signature, with Thomas Tuchel needing to bolster his attacking options, but a late intervention from Barcelona manager Xavi has seen the club do all they can to get Dembele to stay.
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After back and forth negotiations, 90min understands that a two-year contract on a reduced salary has now been agreed - but it's now a question of which deal Barcelona, who have struggled to register new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen because of salary cap compliance, will look to seal first.
That's because a move for Leeds winger Raphinha is also now agreed, 90min has learned, with Leeds accepting a revised offer from Barcelona worth around €60m. The payment will still be staggered into a number of instalments, with various performance related add-ons also included, but provides Jesse Marsch's side with more favourable terms.
Leeds' one condition is that a deal is fully signed off by Sunday, when the club getting ready to jet over to Australia for a pre-season tour.
Personal terms have long been agreed with Raphinha and his agent Deco, and the 25-year-old has essentially been waiting for Barcelona to find a way to finance the deal - he's always wanted to prioritise a move to Camp Nou ahead of Premier League duo Chelsea and Arsenal.
Barcelona must now green-light both deals and decide which order to complete them in, while they continue to work on Lewandowski, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso - the duo both long-term targets who were discussed during a meeting with new Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly earlier this week.