Barca English
The signing of “Raphinha” was obtained practically at the same time as the renewal of Ousmane Dembele’s contract with Barcelona. They were two parallel operations and the Brazilian was never ruled out despite the success of the Frenchman’s contract renewal.
Raphinha was the highest investment in Laporta’s new era and was convinced to sign a Brazilian international with increasing performance in the powerful European leagues. And time has shown that, at least for Xavi, Raphinha is not the undisputed starter but a golden substitute.
The numbers are clear and the Brazilian played only 7 league matches and three in the Champions League, where he was always substituted in the 60th minute.
Raphinha was unable to prove itself, let alone recoup its exorbitant cost. They know this in sports management, but they will wait for the decisive period of the season in the hope that the Brazilian will go further. Has quality, but adapts yet and hasn’t made a difference.
Be that as it may, in Barcelona they are very calm with Rafinha. He enjoys the confidence of the coaching staff, moreover, in the club they know that the Brazilian keeps his market price the same as in the Premier League.
Well, if things don’t work out or the player wants more playing opportunities elsewhere, Barcelona will have no problem getting back the full amount they paid to sign him last summer. For other hirings it would be more complicated, but with Raphinha it’s no problem.
This does not mean that Barcelona put him for sale on the market, nor that they will sell him a year after his arrival, but it does mean that the club has this matter up its sleeve for a summer that will be more complicated than expected.
Because Barcelona, if they finally have to reduce their salary limit by nearly 200 million euros without applying leverage, they will have no choice but to drop some salaries and on top of that, there are players who are not essential and millions can be obtained for their sale, Raphinha is one of them.
Source: Sport
