Newcastle United were said to have made a verbal offer to Barcelona for Brazilian winger Raphinha and now the forward is said to be contemplating a Premier League return.
SPORT.es claim that Raphinha is now considering a return to the Premier League in search of more game time. This is also coming off the back of an alleged €80million (£70million) verbal offer by Newcastle.
Raphinha had a slow start to life at Barcelona and it looked like his dream move was going to be a nightmare, but as the season went on, the former Leeds United forward become more settled and found himself playing more regularly.
Raphinha’s run in the Barcelona team came about through an injury to Dembele
Used in place of the injured Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha has scored ten goals and set up 11 more, taking full advantage of the situation.
However, it’s clear that Xavi Hernandez prefers Dembele over Raphinha, and with that in mind, the 26-year-old is now thinking about moving on after just one year at Barcelona in order to find more assurances over his game time. The thinking is, if he’s not playing regularly he will fall out of contention for his international place.
As seems to be with every player linked with a move to Newcastle at the minute, Arsenal and Chelsea are also said to be monitoring Raphinha’s situation.
The ‘unbelievable‘ winger made almost single-handedly made Leeds United look like a Premier League side when he was there. The Yorkshire club have struggled without him this term and as a result are staring relegation in the face.
Raphinha has divided opinion amongst fans
Looking around online it seems fans are split on whether Raphinha would be a good move for Newcastle. I don’t think there are many who doubt his talent, but there seems to be a feeling that £70million is simply too much money for him.
I personally felt a lot more comfortable when the price was reported to be more along the £50-60million mark, just enough for Barcelona to recoup their initial outlay, but £70million just sounds massive.
That being said, he is a talented player and he knows the Premier League, so it might be a big fee, but it could be totally worth it.
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