Earlier today, we reported that Raphinha is growing unhappy with the fact that his game time could diminish in the coming season, or worse, he could be sold in the summer as Barcelona are desperately chasing some financial goals.
In that context, the team from Catalonia has been told to generate an income in excess of €200 million and in order to achieve the figures, the team might be forced to sell some key players they know who can generate a good transfer income.
In Raphinha’s case, several aspects will be affected, including his intermediaries. This news comes after Xavi Hernandez Navarro claimed that if Barça end up selling the Brazilian, they would ‘stop paying commissions associated with the player’s salary to those who mediated his signing’.
But for Barcelona to make this sale successful, they must manage to sell him for more than €80 million.
Now, it is indeed difficult for the team to demand the mentioned price for a player who has not made a strong impact in his debut season in La Liga. But good thing for the team that he has, in fact, generated a strong interest in the Premier League.
Chelsea, who were interested in his acquisition last season, continue to admire the player and the Blues are said to be in the chase alongside fellow Premier League sides Arsenal and Newcastle United.
Among the three teams, Chelsea and Newcastle are keen on reinforcing their attack for the next season and since capital investment is certainly not a problem for them, the race for his signature might as well culminate into a bidding war.
As far as the player is concerned, he has always expressed that he wants to continue, but since he is contracted with Barcelona until 2027, he remains their biggest cash cow, and hence a valuable asset.
At the same time, however, if the Blaugrana manage to find new teams for the likes of Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, they might not want to sell their Brazilian. Interestingly enough, if they manage to sell Raphinha, they might as well want to keep either Torres or Fati.