Chelsea have joined Newcastle United in the race to sign Barcelona winger Raphinha at the end of the season.
That’s according to Catalan newspaper SPORT, who claim that Chelsea and Newcastle have ‘surveyed the environment’ over a deal for Raphinha.
Barca would prefer to sell players who aren’t making much of a first-team impact.
Yet Raphinha is the one attracting the most interest and Barcelona may end up cashing in on the former Leeds United winger.
Barcelona forked out around £55million to sign Raphinha and would at least expect to get their money back.
The interest from Chelsea and Newcastle isn’t advanced just yet but they have made their first moves by enquiring into a possible summer move.
Luring Raphinha away from Barcelona won’t be easy
Interest from Chelsea and Newcastle actually goes back to last year.
Both clubs were interested in signing Raphinha from Leeds but he had his heart absolutely set on joining Barcelona.
The Brazilian isn’t even faring badly.
By scoring against Athletic Club on Sunday night, Raphinha has now bagged five goals and four assists in 23 league games this season.
Raphinha has racked up four goals and three assists in his last 10 games and appears to have found his feet at Barcelona.
As quoted by Fabrizio Romano last month, Barcelona boss Xavi feels that Raphinha is an ‘extraordinary’ player and didn’t exactly sound like he wanted to sell the winger.
Newcastle have money to spend and may believe that Raphinha has the magic that Eddie Howe wants in the final third.
Yet with his dream move now coming good in the early stages of 2023 after a difficult start, Raphinha may fancy sticking it out in Catalunya rather than head to Tyneside.
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