Raphinha has ‘urgency to come up with a solution’ over his Leeds future, reveals Jesse Marsch

Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch has conceded that talisman Raphinha is pushing for a quick resolution to his transfer saga – which could see him omitted from their pre-season tour of Australia.

Leeds’ preparation for the new campaign has been disruped by Raphinha’s situation – with Barcelona and Chelsea both battling to sign the wantaway winger this summer.

As detailed by Sportsmail, the Brazilian has attracted a lot of attention following his fruitful two-year spell at Elland Road, scoring a crucial goal in Leeds’ 2-1 victory against Brentford on the final day of last season to secure Premier League survival.

Barcelona and Chelsea have each hotly pursued the 25-year-old, with the latter having seen a £60million bid accepted from the Yorkshire club.

However, Raphinha has made clear his preference to sign for the Spanish giants and will reportedly hold out for a move to the Nou Camp, having already rebuffed interest from Spurs and Arsenal.

Leeds’ No 10 didn’t play in Thursday’s pre-season 4-0 win over Blackpool and speaking post-match Marsch admitted that he could be absent for their upcoming tour Down Under too.

‘My guess is, I don’t know. We just have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of days,’ Marsch said.

‘There’s urgency from his end, I think, to come up with a solution. We have to in the next couple of days see how things stand and see how we go.

‘It hasn’t been an easy time for him this summer. Things have come and gone and there have been a lot of little discussions. Right now he’s our player.

‘He showed up today and trained with everybody, he had such a good attitude. We had a very open and honest conversation about while he’s here he’s part of us, and then we’ll see what happens. It’s still a long way to go in the transfer window.

‘I know he has hopes and dreams. I know he loves this team and this club and he loves being here. We’ll see how things progress day by day.’

Leeds will participate in the inaugural Queensland Champions Cup next week. They begin against the Brisbane Roar at Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium on July 14 before facing Aston Villa three days later at the Suncorp Stadium in Perth.