Raphinha is on the verge of completing his dream move to Barcelona after the Spanish giants confirmed they had "reached an agreement in principle" with Leeds United to sign the Brazilian winger.
"FC Barcelona and Leeds United Football Club have reached an agreement in principle for the transfer of Raphael Dias Belloli, Raphinha, pending the player passing his medical," read a statement on the Barcelona website.
Raphinha has received interest from several clubs this summer, with Chelsea and Arsenal also reported to have submitted bids, but once Barca joined the race it became clear that the Camp Nou was his preferred destination.
Barca's well-documented financial problems threatened to derail the move, but the clubs have reportedly agreed a structured deal that will see the Catalans pay an initial fee of €58 million ($58.4m) plus add-ons that could take the deal up to €65m.
Raphinha, who skipped Leeds' pre-season trip to Australia to finalise his future, is expected to imminently travel to Barcelona to undergo his medical and complete the formalities.
The 25-year-old Brazil international is set to become Barcelona's third major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie and Danish defender Andreas Christensen, both on free transfers.
Raphinha came through the youth ranks at Brazilian club Avai before moving to Europe with Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes in 2016. Two seasons later he joined Sporting Lisbon and joined French outfit Rennes in 2019. After one year, Raphinha joined Leeds in 2020, where he has scored 17 goals and produced 12 assists in 67 appearances. He has been capped nine times by Brazil.
Barcelona are also expected to be further boosted by Ousmane Dembele signing a new contract. The France international winger became a free agent at the end of June but will put pen to paper on a new long-term deal.
Having narrowly avoided relegation last season, Leeds are now building for the new Premier League season without their two best players after Kalvin Phillips sealed his move to Manchester City earlier in the summer.
The biog
Name: Marie Byrne
Nationality: Irish
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption
Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston
Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams
Jigra
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
