Barcelona are out of the Europa League, and that only raises more questions around the Catalan club’s financial future.
Barcelona’s financial issues have been well-documented, and an early exit from the Europa League will only compound their problems.
Indeed, Barca apparently had a budget in place for this season that relied on them making the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so such an early exit from the Europa League is something of a disaster.
It’s not outrageous to suggest that the Spanish giants will potentially need to sell players to balance the books, and Arsenal could capitalise on this and swoop for Raphinha.
Arsenal should certainly consider making another bid for Raphinha after Barcelona’s Europa League exit. While the Gunners’ attack has been rejuvenated under Mikel Arteta, they could still benefit from a player of Raphinha’s quality as they lack depth behind Bukayo Saka on the right wing.
Arsenal, supposedly, tabled a £60m bid for Raphinha in the January transfer window as they tried to bolster their attacking options, and now, that sort of bid could be irresistible for Barca as economic alarm bells continue to ring.
While Arsenal have made progress under Arteta, there is still work to be done if they are to re-establish themselves as one of the best teams in Europe. Adding a player of Raphinha’s quality to their squad would certainly help in this regard and he could be the final piece of the attacking depth puzzle.
Don’t be shocked if the vultures begin to circle as Barcelona’s financial issues worsen, and one of the beneficiaries of this situation could well be Arsenal who could finally land Raphinha after months of courting the ‘extraordinary’ winger.
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