Mystery Saudi club make offer for Raphinha

According to a report in Mundo Deportivo, a mystery Saudi Arabia club has already sent an offer to Barcelona for forward Raphinha.

The details are few and far between with journalist Achraf Ben Ayad not providing any details on the Saudi club in question or the value of the offer.

Raphinha arrived at Barcelona from Leeds last summer and made an instant impact with the Catalan giants scoring 8 goals with 8 assists in 42 appearances.

His 7 goals in La Liga helped Barca lift the league championship trophy for the first time since 2018-19, and at just 26 years of age, is about to enter his prime.

The report does indicate that Raphinha has indicated that he is happy at Barca and would like to stay at the Spanish club with his contract running until 2027.

Barca spent €57 million plus €8 million in variables for Raphinha last year, so you’d have to imagine that the offer would need to be in excess of €70 million to even be considered.

Saudi aggressively looking to add talent

The Saudi Pro League is working to attract some of the world’s best players by offering large sums of money, but not all players are heeding the call.

Tottenham forward Son Heung-Min turned down the chance to join Al Ittihad, Luka Modric turned down Al Hilal, as did Lionel Messi.

Stars who are entering the twilight of their careers like Karim Benzema, Ngolo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kalidou Koulibaly have already made the move for one last payday though.

But some clubs are attacking younger talent.

24-year-old Jota made the move from Celtic to Al Ittihad, 26-year-old Rúben Neves joined Al Hilal from Premier League side Wolves, and there are several other deals currently being negotiated.

The expectation is that Barca is not interested in selling Raphinha at this point. As Joan Laporta recently said, despite the financial issues facing the La Liga champions, they’re not a selling club.