Barcelona and Leeds reach Raphinha agreement

Barcelona and Leeds have come to an agreement for the transfer of Raphinha, with the English club finally accepting the Catalan side's proposals.

Talks had come to something of a standstill for a number of days as the Premier League side awaited an official offer from the Blaugrana, and they were seeking guarantees of payments before accepting the bid.

The Blaugrana had been preparing an offer which is believed to 55 million euros plus an additional 20 million in performance-related add-ons, putting the Catalan club's offer in a similar ball park to the ones that Leeds already had on the table, such as from Chelsea.

Negotiations between Leeds and Barcelona had already taken place in order to get to those figures, but then the latter need to specify the details of the variables and present their offer officially, which they have now done

How Barcelona structure those variables will be key to the success of the deal, however the payment plan for the guaranteed portion is just as vital.

The English club are well aware of Barcelona's financial troubles and had therefore been treading cautiously and wanted to see guarantees that the club can meet the proposed three-instalment schedule on time. Now, we can assume they have had those guarantees.

The Blaugrana are still negotiating the sale of 15 percent of their television rights which could free up in the region of 400 million euros. Getting that done is an urgent priority, especially as the transfer market won't wait for them to be ready.

Meanwhile, Raphinha had been in London, waiting for the two clubs to reach an agreement. Due to the strong interest in him from both Barcelona and Chelsea, the player has not travelled with the rest of the Leeds squad for their pre-season tour of Australia.

Raphinha, 25, began his career with Avai in Brazil, before moving to Europe aged 19 to join Vitoria Guimaraes. He went on to play for Sporting CP and Rennes before joining Leeds in 2015.

Last season, the winger scored 11 goals in 35 Premier League games. He also has nine caps for Brazil, in which he has scored three times.

Now, his move to Barcelona is imminent.