Barcelona: Benfica late entrant in race for Rafinha’s signature
Benfica have entered the race for Rafinha’s signature
After Real Betis initially expressed interest in signing Rafinha, Portuguese giants Benfica have followed suit, joining Betis in the race for his signature at a stage when the Andalusian club are very close to securing him on a loan deal.
Benfica are willing to match Barça’s asking price of €25 million, unlike Betis, who are still negotiating over the fee required to make the move permanent at the end of the season. They are primarily looking for an attacker, and hence have a limited budget when it comes to midfielders.
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Benfica are also offering the opportunity to play in Europe. They are assured of a spot in the Europa League, while they are yet to play the second leg in the Champions League play-off against PAOK, with the home leg ending in a draw.
As for Barcelona, the club is looking to move on the 25-year old Brazilian midfielder even though he performed brilliantly in pre-season. Ernesto Valverde even fielded him in the starting lineup for the semi-competitive games, but that was not a sign of things to come.
Rafinha has been frozen out of the squad, and Éric Abidal is now looking into potential destinations for the playmaker, having quoted a price tag of €25 million, €10 million less than the previously stated asking price of €35 million which scared off Inter.
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This season, there is a lot of competition in midfield and especially with Arturo Vidal acting as a goalscoring midfielder, Rafinha would have his opportunities limited. So, the club might as well make a profit on him rather than let him warm the bench for an entire season.