Man Utd handed blow in summer transfer for Barca star

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 2 Feb 2023 11:14 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United’s purported pursuit of Raphinha over a summer over has been handed a big blow.

The Red Devils, who brought in Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich on loan from Bayern Munich during the January transfer window, will be looking to spend big when the market opens again.

One of their reported targets, following the failed move of Cody Gakpo who joined Liverpool, is former Leeds attacker Raphinha.

READ MORE: La Liga chief rules out Haaland and Mbappe Barcelona move

The Brazilian has been struggling for form at the Nou Camp and was consequently linked with a move from Spain - before finding his feet a bit more this campaign.

And Barcelona boss Xavi has denied rumours that his player will end up leaving in the summer. He said: “We will always support Raphinha — he’s the future of Barcelona. He's a criticised player, but he does a lot and we value Raphinha a lot”.

The Brazil international, who has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 28 games across all competitions, has completed just ten of the 18 La Liga games that he has played this season.

As well as Man Utd, Premier League leaders Arsenal were linked to the winger but ultimately didn't pursue a move in the January window.

In July, Raphinha signed for the Catalans on a five-year contract for an initial fee of £50m, potentially rising to £55 million in add-ons.

Barcelona on the up

Barcelona, who sit top of the La Liga table, have an eight-point gap to Real Madrid following their win over Real Betis.

Xavi spoke about how delighted he was with how his team improved from their 1-0 win over Girona at the weekend. He said 'I’m very happy with the game. We have improved a lot compared to the game against Girona. We played a brilliant game.

“Today it was key not to lose the ball and we minimised just that. We dominated from start to finish. And, of course, they would also have to reach an agreement with Klopp to allow the departure of one of his key pieces.”