Raphinha's Arsenal transfer stance revealed

Robin Bairner

• 16 Jan 2023 11:34 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal are seeking to move on in the transfer market following Mykhailo Mudryk’s shock move to Chelsea.

Barcelona attacker Raphinha is a player that the Gunners have targeted as a potential offensive alternative to the 22-year-old Ukraine international

The links are little surprise. Arsenal were credited with a summer interest in the player before first Chelsea and then Barcelona surpassed their offers for the Brazil star, who made what he believed to be a dream move to Barcelona.

MORE: Shakhtar are ripping off Chelsea with €100m Mudryk transfer

Raphinha’s time in Spain, though, has not proven to be the fairy tale that he wished for.

Often on the periphery of the team, Raphinha has been knocked down the pecking order and is already seen as someone dispensable by the hierarchy at the club – despite the owners placing a price tag of €100 million on his head.

This stance appears at odds to reports in Spain, which state that Barcelona are ready to offload the winger as well as Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres in order to secure the futures of Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele amid the difficult financial outlook for the club.

MORE: Did Real Madrid make a big mistake selling Odegaard to Arsenal?

Raphinha wants to follow Barcelona dream

Even if Arsenal decided to press on with a move, which is unlikely given that they refused to pay around half that for him in the summer, the player does not seem eager to give up at Camp Nou yet.

Indeed, Mundo Deportivo reports that Raphinha has no interest in throwing in the towel to move to Arsenal or anywhere else.

It is stated that Raphinha’s entourage has “ruled out the possibility of the Brazil international leaving during the January transfer window, adding that he has only been at the club for a few months and that his dream is to succeed at Camp Nou”.

Raphinha has played 22 times since joining Barcelona from Leeds in the summer for a sum of €58m, scoring three goals and creating five more.