On Wednesday, we covered the story that Manchester City were looking at Barcelona’s Raphinha to replace Riyad Mahrez should the Algeria international head to Saudi Arabia.
The winger has since agreed to the move, as have the Premier League champions, meaning that the Brazilian could quickly become a serious avenue for Pep Guardiola.
However, Sport in Spain try and put an immediate stop to all of this, as they claim the Manchester City target is simply not for sale.
It’s pointed out that the La Liga side ‘will not sell’ the Brazil international this summer, and the arrival of Deco as the club’s sporting director has put an end to any idea of an exit.
It’s simple, to the point where Sport reduce it to one sentence, which is that Raphinha ‘will not leave’ Barcelona this summer, whether it be to Saudi Arabia or the Premier League,.
They are convinced he can be a ‘very important player’ in the upcoming season despite some teething problems in his first campaign in Catalonia, and even with the interest from several clubs, Xavi refused to see his player go ‘except for a multimillion-dollar and irrefutable offer’.
Having not received such offer, that puts an end to any idea of a move to Manchester City, especially since they haven’t made a move either.
Down their end, Deco and Xavi have ‘reassured the player’ and made it clear he has their full trust, feeling he can ‘explode’ under the current manager and his price ‘could rise even more’.
