Sources deny Arsenal pulling out of Raphinha race | OneFootball

Arsenal haven’t pulled out of the race to sign Raphinha after agreeing a deal for Gabriel Jesus, despite one claim they have.

On Sunday night, Arsenal finalised personal terms on a deal to sign Gabriel Jesus, having already agreed a fee with Manchester City. That deal is now expected to go through in the coming days.

Spanish outlet Sport jumped on the news to claim that it meant Arsenal were pulling out of the race for Raphinha, and that the player’s representatives were blocking all English offers so he could join Barcelona.

Other sources have strongly denied this claim.

Freddie Paxton reports that Arsenal haven’t withdrawn from the race to sign Raphinha, and Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports claims the same thing.

Jacobs writes that Raphinha does still want to see if a Barcelona deal is possible, but Raphinha’s representatives haven’t blanked Premier League suitors like Arsenal. In fact, the Gunners have another meeting scheduled with them this week.

Goal Brazil claim that though Leeds United are publicly holding out for £65m, Raphinha’s entourage believe they’ll accept an offer of £50m.

Fabrizio Romano reports that Arsenal have scheduled a meeting with Leeds this week, on top of the planned meeting with Raphinha’s reps.

The downside of Romano’s claims is that he says Barcelona, Spurs, and Chelsea are all still in talks with Raphinha’s agent. The race isn’t closed yet.

David Ornstein reported last week that Arsenal and Raphinha’s other suitors were growing increasingly confident that the Gunners are the current favourites for a transfer.

Raphinha is reportedly open to a move, and Chelsea and Spurs are focusing on other targets – Raheem Sterling and Richarlison respectively.

The possibility of a late Barcelona turnaround seems to be the biggest threat. But if Ousmane Dembele chooses to stay with the club, that will probably rule them out.