Leeds United: Bari interest in Brazilian wing target denied

Yesterday Italian website TUTTOmercatoWEB (TMW) reported that Brazilian winger Raphael Martinho was to leave Italian side Carpi with Leeds United leading the race to bring him to English football.

TMW said that whilst there was interest from Serie B teams Pro Vercelli and Spezia, and that they’d be in “pole position in Serie B,” these teams and others in Italy would need to “beware of Leeds.” TMW went on in the article to say that there would be “special attention” paid to the “English target” by the Brazilian.

Campo Grande-born Martinho, who began his career in his native Brazil with Monte Alegro Futebol Clube, first moved into Italian football when Catania paid £170,000 to Monte Alegre to bring him to Italy at the opening of the summer 2010 transfer window on July 1. He stayed a Catania player, with loans to Italian sides Cesena and  Hellas Verona, before his move last summer to Carpi.

Then earlier today, InsideFutbol said that the race was hotting up for Brazilian Martinho, who had only spent one season with Italian side Carpi, and that Italian side Bari were interested in acquiring the 28-year-old winger, with InsideFutbol referencing Italian daily La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno.

However, according to another report in TMW, Giancarlo Romairone, Carpi’s Sporting Director, has poured cold water on the heat of suggestions that Italian side Bari have expressed an interest in Martinho, thus distancing the Italian club further from signing the Leeds United wing target. Admitting that there has been “contact” between the two organisations (Carpi and Bari), Romairone said that, “I do not know if Bari has talked with the agent of the player.”

According to an article on the TuttoBari website, Bari have said they will only make a lunge for Martinho, “under certain conditions. In the next 48 hours we will know more.”

So, whilst there may be speculative interest for  Martinho in Italy, TMW finish their article by saying that, “the Brazilian seems in fact to have a final destination at Leeds, in England.”

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