Romano: Liverpool ‘exploring’ deal for Leeds star with £25m clause
Liverpool are looking into the possibility of buying Leeds United attacker Raphinha, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
The Brazilian signed for Leeds from French outfit Rennes ahead of their return to the Premier League in 2020.
Since this move, Raphinha has been a breakout star in the top flight as he has shone for the West Yorkshire side, who were promoted to the Premier League in 2020
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He has been linked with Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and West Ham in the past and now Romano claims that he will be available for £25m if Leeds – who boosted their survival chances with a 3-2 win over Wolves on Friday night – get relegated.
“Liverpool are exploring the possibility of signing Raphinha,” Romano said on YouTube.
“If Leeds get relegated, there will be some really interesting clauses. It’s around £25m, so it could be a big opportunity on the market.”
Romano continued: “Let me just add, Chelsea were at the front of the queue for Raphinha in the January window.”
After bringing in Luis Diaz from Porto in the January transfer window, Liverpool now have a wealth of attacking options at their disposal.
It feels unlikely that Liverpool would invest heavily again on an attacking player in the next window unless one of their other options were to leave.
And former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell reckons that the purchase of Raphinha could spell the end for one of their famous trio of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
“This could well be the end of that front three of Salah, Mane, and Firmino,” Campbell told Football Insider.
“Salah and Mane have played themselves into a really difficult situation purely by being so successful. They’re, quite rightly, asking for big money to stay and it’s now up to Liverpool to either pay it or not.
“It could well be that both of them that go.
“If they want Raphinha, and they’ve already got Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota – these players are not going to want to sit on the bench. Harvey Elliott is in the background now too.
“It may well be a changing of the guard at Liverpool, and Raphinha could be a big part of that.”
