Chelsea close in on Raphinha from Leeds as manager Thomas Tuchel eyes revamped attack – report

Chelsea are reportedly close to agreeing a fee with Leeds United “north of £55m” for Brazilian winger Raphinha.

The report comes from The Athletic’s David Ornstein who says that Chelsea have moved ahead of Arsenal and Barcelona in the race for the forward.

It has long been reported that Barcelona were Raphinha’s club of choice but they have been unable to put forward a substantial bid due to financial constraints.

Raphinha’s agent is former Blues midfielder Deco. Elsewhere the Blues remain close to sending Romelu Lukaku on loan to his former club Inter Milan.

The report also states that as well as Sterling Chelsea want to bring back Nathan Ake from Manchester City and are also looking at Jules Kounde, Matthijs de Ligt and Milan Skriniar.

There has been an exodus at the highest level of the club with Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech all stepping away after the takeover by Todd Boehly, who has taken on transfer responsibilities himself since purchasing the club as part of a consortium.