Raphinha has strongly denied reports which have claimed he's given the green light to leave Barcelona with a fiery message on social media. The 26-year-old winger was heavily linked with a move to both Arsenal and Chelsea in the summer, but he snubbed the two London clubs in favour of joining the Spanish giants.
football.london understands that Raphinha was mooted by the Gunners as a potential target, but a switch failed to materialise. It's also said that the Blues had agreed a deal worth up to £65million with Leeds United, but the Brazil international had his heart set on swapping Elland Road for the Nou Camp.
With the west Londoners keen to further bolster their frontline options, Raphinha has reemerged on the club's radar. He's featured 31 times for the Catalan side in La Liga this season, directly contributing towards 13 goals.
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While Raphinha has displayed flashes of brilliance, he's struggled to truly assert himself in the Barcelona starting lineup. And, with the Spanish giants under immense pressure to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, he's the 'most likely' to be sold in order to give the club some breathing space, according to the Daily Mail.
Barcelona have pulled various economic levers lately just to keep their head above water. The report states that Arsenal and Newcastle are among the clubs monitoring Raphinha's situation.
One report on social media even suggested that the Brazilian has given the green light to his departure, which could cost as much as £70million. But, Raphinha has strongly denied such claims Instagram by launching an attack on the aforementioned report.
He writing: "LIE. The person who said this is beyond a liar and uninformed." Then, after Raphinha's comment was deleted, he added: "OK, why did you delete my comment? LIE, once again, this 'OK' is LIE And whoever said that is a LIAR, MISINFORMED AND UNPROFESSIONAL. If my comment is deleted, I will post it on my Instagram."
Last summer, Edu explained to Sky Sports how Raphinha's move to north London broke down. The Arsenal technical director said: "People think we went in too deep about Raphinha, because Raphinha was everywhere.
"It’s fair we did have some conversations with Deco because Deco is his agent and I have a good relationship [with him] – we are friends. I just said to Deco, ‘Can you explain to me the situation with Raphinha?’ and he was clear, ‘Edu, we have a good relationship but I’m not going to lie to you, his idea is to go to Barcelona because he’s dreaming to go to Barcelona, and we’ve been talking to Barcelona since a long time ago’.
"Okay, thank you very much, if something happens then just let me know because I can explore and understand the situation. If not, no problem and we carry on with our relationship."
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