Raphinha has admitted that he was set on joining Barcelona this summer, claiming that no other offer could have come close to his “dream” move.
For much of 2022, it was anticipated that the winger would join Barça from Leeds United, with the Blaugrana planning a bargain deal in the event that the Whites were demoted from the Premier League.
However, Leeds survived on the final day of the 2021/22 season, with Raphinha scoring in their decisive 2-1 win over Brentford, and the asking price was increased.
Despite a competing €65 million offer from Chelsea and interest from Arsenal and Tottenham, Barcelona was always confident that Raphinha would be theirs.
The Brazilian international, however, claimed that his only goal was to sign with Barcelona in an interview with La Vanguardia.
Raphinha responded when asked if he declined a proposal from Chelsea: “Yes, because my dream was to wear the Barcelona shirt, which is a club that I have followed since I was very young. Since Ronaldinho arrived. With him I began to understand a little more the history of the club. I wanted to be a part of this.
“So that dream, those desires were stronger than any other proposal no matter how powerful it was financially.”
Raphinha scored his first goal for Barcelona in their 3-0 victory over Sevilla last weekend, but he hasn’t yet played in the Champions League after not being used as a substitute against Viktoria Plzen in the middle of the week.
