Raphinha has been left out of Leeds United's touring squad to Australia, as the Whites step up their pre-season preparations with three fixtures down under. The Brazilian has been given more time to sort out his future, with Chelsea already having had a bid accepted for the player, but Raphinha keen to wait for Barcelona to make a bid which the Whites will agree to.
With the winger highly likely to leave the club this summer, Jesse Marsch has chosen a squad of players that are more likely to be available to him during the 22/23 Premier League season. Details of the full squad are here, but Helder Costa, Lewis Bate, Ian Poveda, Kiko Casilla and Jamie Shackleton are all missing, alongside Raphinha. This suggests that they will also be moved on during the summer, on loan or permanently.
Leeds fans have been sharing their feelings about the news on social media, with excitement growing around watching the new signings, who are all included in the travelling party. However, Raphinha's future drew the most comments, with the overall feeling being that everybody wants this saga drawn to a close as soon as possible. Here is a selection of what fans are saying:
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@steveyrobbo: "Club need to put a deadline on it for Raphinha - we need time to sort out replacement/striker. If deadline passes, he sets up for the next half a season and everyone can move on."
@Weececil1: "The whole thing is getting draining now."
@wcelhatton: "This trip is about bonding the team, and clearly Raph does not want to be in this team. So yeah, it’s sad but it’s necessary because we work with players who want to be here"
@LUFCHutchy: "Letting Barca bully us into selling him for a pittance then."
@dylanxlufc: "At this point, I’m just resigned to the fact he needs to go. It’s becoming a disruption not knowing whether he’ll be here or not."
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