Most of Barcelona’s summer transfer arrivals have struggled to match the promise. Be it the former Milan midfielder Franck Kessie, who arrived on a free transfer, or right-back Hector Bellerin.
While it can be argued that the two haven’t really been used a lot, the same cannot be said for a certain Raphinha. The Brazilian, for whom Barcelona had to fend off interest from Arsenal and Chelsea by paying more than €60 million, has scored just three goals in 23 outings across all competitions.
his has not only questioned his credibility, but it has also invoked a plausible rumour that Barcelona might as well cash in on him if a good enough offer arrives next summer.
Regardless of the news floating around, journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed that the 26-year-old does not want to leave Barcelona.
The feeling at Blaugrana, however, is completely different, to say the very least. Jacobs says that after missing out on Mykhaylo Mudryk, the Gunners remain an admirer of Raphinha, although they are also exploring other avenues.
And now that Barcelona know their winger is starting to generate interest, they would expect a fee that would surpass Mudryk’s move to Chelsea. In short, anywhere more than €100 million would do the trick.
In fact, Jacobs says that after Chelsea agreed to pay over €100 million for Mudryk, lots of clubs ‘will use this as a valuation yardstick in deals.’
As of today, the Gunners are still a big fan of Raphinha but it must be remembered that even last summer, when the Brazilian was available in the market, did not want to pay more than €50 million for his acquisition.
Regardless of what’s happening in the market, the player continues to insist that he wants to continue at Barcelona. In fact, his representatives have cleared that there was a reason why he opted for Barcelona in the first place and he wishes to fulfil his contract which runs until 2027.
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