Chelsea hand Newcastle United massive transfer blow

Newcastle United have been linked with a wide variety of players in recent times as the club are expected to make a splash this summer. They are doing just that as well, having signed Matt Targett from Aston Villa, Nick Pope from Burnley and Sven Botman from Lille till now, as the strengthening of Eddie Howe’s squad has continued.

They are not expected to stop there though, as there are a few more areas where the Magpies could be looking to strengthen in. One of them is on the wings.

The club have been linked with the likes of Moussa Diaby and Thorgan Hazard recently, but another player who is believed to have been on their radar is Leeds United’s Raphinha, although the Magpies are believed to be reluctant to meet The Peacocks’ £60 million transfer valuation of the Brazilian star.

But as tweeted out by Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea and Leeds United have reached full agreement for Raphinha and an official bid has been accepted around £60/65 million, including add-ons.

Chelsea have handed Newcastle United a massive transfer blow

Raphinha has been one of the standout players in the Premier League, not playing for one of the traditional Big Six.

The Brazilian has shown incredible quality and trickery with the ball at his feet, and put up some great numbers as well, especially when you consider how badly Leeds United struggled last season. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he scored 11 goals and provided 3 assists in 35 Premier League appearances last season.

Thus, it is not hard to see why Chelsea would be willing to shell out such a big fee to sign him and now, it remains to be seen if they can agree personal terms with the player, which are not expected to be a worry. Other than Newcastle United, the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United had also been linked with Raphinha recently.