Mikel Arteta has been given fresh hope of finally signing Raphinha – a year after the winger snubbed Arsenal to join Barcelona. The 26-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium last summer, but he opted for the Camp Nou instead.
Despite having completed his 'dream' £50million move, Raphinha could now be offloaded. According to the Daily Mail, the Brazil international has emerged as the 'most likely candidate' to be sold by the Catalan side at the end of the season as they look for a solution to meet financial guidelines.
Barcelona have struggled to manage their finances recently, pulling various economic levers in order to keep their head above water. The report states that Arsenal and Newcastle are keeping tabs on Raphinha's situation; with clubs aware of the Spanish side's plight, they're likely to be low-balled.
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The Daily Mail add that Ousmane Dembele, who has a £45m buy-out clause, is expected to stay at Barcelona, with the France international preferred by Xavi on the right-wing. Last summer when Arsenal looked set to sign Raphinha, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher tipped the Brazilian to be a top signing.
Speaking on Sky Sports last year, the former Manchester United defender said: "He’s a top player, I think if they were to go down then a lot of clubs would be looking at him.
"I know he was left out towards the end of the [Marcelo] Bielsa reign, people saying he was inconsistent, but every time I’ve watched him I think 'I wouldn’t like to play against him'. He’s certainly a level above the players they have on the bench."
Then, when quizzed on Raphinha, the former Liverpool defender added: "Some of his touches and his play when he comes inside, we’ve highlighted his movement as well. I was really impressed with him when I watched him at Leicester last weekend as well, not just by Raphinha, but [Patrick] Bamford as well
"You see that shot there [before Bamford’s goal against Palace[, that’s so typical of a wide man, that penetrating run that we talk about with [Mohamed] Salah, [Sadio] Mane and [Raheem] Sterling, all the great wide players.
"They make that run and he does. He has great quality on the ball. He assisted Bamford certainly in that Leicester game when he fired that pass in and you look at his numbers there, he looks like a real player, certainly of late.
"I think we mentioned before the game that he’s been involved in seven goals in the last eight games, so he’s always a huge threat and that’s always telling when your teammates know from one training session.
"I’ll never forget one player - as soon as Xabi Alonso came to Liverpool - it’s like you could tell in the session, the way he passed, the pace of the pass, the noise of it, as a dressing room you sort of step back and say that we’ve got one here and it sounds like that was what the Leeds dressing room did (with Raphinha)."
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