Raphinha &#8211; CaughtOffside

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Raphinha in action for Barcelona

Will Raphinha return to England?

While Raphinha is determined to stay at Barcelona and fight for his place in the starting XI following the rise of Lamine Yamal, Newcastle United are planning to make a move for his services. The Magpies want more quality on the flanks and Howe feels the Brazilian forward could be an ideal addition as he can feature on either flank. But, Barcelona’s asking price could be a major problem for the English outfit.

The Catalan giants will demand a significant fee to offload him and they are in the driving seat with three years left on his deal. The Magpies are aware of how difficult it could be to prise the 27-year-old away from Barcelona. As a result, they have been looking at alternative options who could help their cause.

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Newcastle United plotting move to bring 27-year-old attacker back to England

Saikat Chatterjee — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 10:30:00 +0000

Newcastle United are looking to bring Barcelona star Raphinha back to the Premier League.

Eddie Howe is keen on reinforcing his attack before the end of the transfer window. He is pushing hard to add more quality to the final third of the pitch in an attempt to bounce back after a disappointing season last time out. While they have been linked with quite a few top forwards, the Magpies are yet to make an attacking signing.

Barcelona’s Raphinha has been on their wishlist for a long time now and according to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Newcastle United are plotting a move to bring the Brazilian winger back to the Premier League. With Miguel Almirón’s future at the club uncertain amidst interest from the Middle East, Howe sees Raphinha as an ideal upgrade in that position.

The 27-year-old winger made a name for himself while playing for Leeds United before joining the Spanish giants in the summer of 2022. While he might not be a guaranteed starter at Barcelona, Raphinha has been a consistent performer. He has done well on both the right as well as left flank. He can surely be a great option for Hansi Flick moving ahead but the Catalan giants are open to his departure as he can help them raise funds to sign other important targets.

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Barcelona ready to sell Raphinha

They did receive a strong offer worth around €65 million from a Saudi Arabian club but it wasn’t considered to be good enough as Barcelona had spent €58 million plus another €7 million in variables to sign him. While they are ready to sell the 27-year-old, the Spanish giants want to ensure they make a significant profit. The Magpies have reignited their interest in Raphinha and are pushing hard to bring him back to the Premier League but they are not going to find it easy as the player has no intentions of leaving Barcelona.

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Newcastle reignite interest in Barcelona attacker

Mehdi Gokal — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 20:59:02 +0000

Newcastle United continue to express interest in Barcelona star Raphinha.

The Brazilian winger is among the players Barcelona are willing to sell to alleviate their financial troubles.

Newcastle had a bid rejected for him earlier in the summer, which was said to be worth £51m. According to Spanish reports, the Magpies have reignited their interest in the former Leeds United star, who has also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi clubs are reportedly prepared to spend significantly to sign him. However, Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo indicates that Newcastle have joined the race to sign Raphinha, although it will not be an inexpensive pursuit, as they will have to spend much more than they did previously.

The report states that Barcelona have already rejected a €65 million bid from an unnamed Saudi side earlier in the transfer window, deeming it below their valuation of the player.

Despite the financial pressure on Barcelona, Raphinha remains insistent that he is happy with the Spanish giants and does not wish to leave the club.

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It is unlikely that the Premier League side will be able to match the spending power of the Saudi clubs.

While Newcastle are owned by the wealthy Saudi-based Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Premier League’s strict financial fair play rules may limit their ability to match the spending power of Saudi clubs without first offloading some of their own players.

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West Ham’s smart Summerville deal, Liverpool’s Gordon interest remains and more

Fabrizio Romano — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 18:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io

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West Ham’s smart Summerville deal

Crysencio Summerville will undergo his medical at West Ham today. The deal is almost done, and we are just waiting for the signing of all documents.

Brighton were interested but never reached an agreement for Crysencio.

West Ham did an excellent job behind the scenes in June and then presented a formal bid almost 10 days ago, as exclusively revealed.

The deal is £25m plus add-ons and is a very smart move from the Hammers.

No updates on Alvarez until after the Olympics

There’s no substantial update yet on Julian Alvarez and nothing to say before the end of the Olympics.

He wants to play more and Man City want to keep Julian, but that remains the same story as I revealed in June.

After the Olympics, Julian and his agents will talk to Man City and we will see if there are any more developments.

Liverpool still interested in Anthony Gordon

I’m receiving lots of questions on Anthony Gordon guys, but I was only told that Liverpool discussed several potential swap deals in June, not the specific values that have been mentioned elsewhere in the media.

I don’t have confirmation on the numbers being talked about but, for sure Liverpool wanted Gordon and they remain interested in the player, considering him an excellent winger.

Let’s see what Liverpool will do this month, but appreciation for Gordon remains; I’m 100% sure of that.

Manchester United’s third ‘here we go’ of the summer is…

The third ‘here we go’ for Manchester United is Chido Obi-Martin, the striker born in 2007 and who was at Arsenal doing incredible things in their academy. A proper goal machine.

A super talented striker and first of all, let me say that this kind of deal is something that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and all the people at the club are planning to do for the present and future; signing top talents early on in their careers.

We have to be fair and say that Arsenal made a very big proposal to the player in terms of money, but the decision was to turn it down and explore other options, including in Germany.

As soon as the deal is official, we’re going to reveal some names of clubs that really tried to sign him and what kind of proposals they made in terms of the project, but now the important news is that Manchester United have signed Chido.

Sticking with Manchester United, I can confirm that Noussair Mazraoui, the right-back, is also waiting for the Red Devils, but Aaron Wan-Bissaka must leave before Mazraoui will be allowed to join.

There were other possibilities, even in the recent days, to consider, but the player keeps repeating he wants to wait for Manchester United. He agreed on personal terms and believes this is the best opportunity for him. He trusts the project. He trusts the manager.

He wants to feel important after difficulties at Bayern, because he’s never been a regular starter.

Also, no bids yet for Scott McTominay.

Despite rumours that Fulham have offered £30m for his services, in the last 24h they were busy with the documents on the Smith-Rowe deal and with new signing, Cuenca, from Villarreal – as exclusively revealed.

McTominay has always been appreciated and for sure Marco Silva likes him a lot, but there’s still no formal bid on the table.

João Neves moving to Paris Saint-Germain doesn’t change a lot regarding Man United and Manuel Ugarte.

United already wanted Ugarte and PSG already agreed to sell him… but they want the right proposal and the right package, and Man United have not offered that at the moment.

Ugarte and Amrabat remain two names on Man United’s list for their midfield.

Atleti and Chelsea on the verge of Conor Gallagher agreement

It’s important to say that Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have almost agreed a fee for Conor Gallagher. It’s imminent and all about final details, and Atleti are waiting for the green light from the player.

As always, you need a player to approve the move, but in this case, even more so, because Conor Gallagher only has one year left on his contract and so has a lot of power in negotiations.

Atletico will not wait forever, so the timing will also be important, but for sure, Chelsea and Atletico are ready to do business.

Chelsea consider it a good solution because they don’t want to lose the player on a free and also they avoid any English club signing him on a free transfer too.

Let’s see what Conor Gallagher decides to do.

Raphinha’s definitive answer to Saudi Pro League representatives

We know that Barcelona are busy with trying to sign Nico Williams and Dani Olmo because, as I told you over the weekend, there have been contacts between Barcelona and Dani Olmo’s agents as well as between Barcelona and Leipzig.

The agents need to understand what Barça can do in terms of proposals, structure of the deal, and all these kind of things. Barça feel that Dani Olmo wants to go there, but we know that Barcelona are also busy with outgoings. They probably need to do something, especially if they want to bring in two players in offensive positions.

And so what’s important to remember is the situation of Raphinha, in terms of official proposals. There has been nothing from Al-Ahli, no formal bids, no official proposals.

Some intermediaries approached Raphinha and people close to him to understand if he wanted to start discussions over a potential Saudi move. If he was ready to open the door and then, in that case, go and negotiate with them.

What I’m hearing is that the answer of Raphinha was very clear; “no, thanks.”

He wants to continue in Europe. He wants to continue in Barcelona. He’s convinced that this season he can do great things, and he was very happy with his development in the second and final part of the season last year. He did very well, especially in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain.

We’ll have to see what happens in the next weeks, because August for Barça could be very busy.

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Aaron Ramsdale waiting for goalkeeper ‘domino’

It’s completely quiet now with regards to Aaron Ramsdale.

There have been no new movements or updates for a while now, so we will have to see what happens later in the window, based on a goalkeepers domino.

If he does end up leaving Arsenal, then yes guys, they could need one more goalkeeper.

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Barcelona receive game-changing bid from the Saudi Pro League for star man

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 12:22:36 +0000

As Barcelona go into the new season looking to plug the gap created by Real Madrid, they will be buoyed by the news of a game-changing bid for one of their star players.

Hansi Flick still won’t know for a few weeks what the make up of his starting XI will be, given that sporting director, Deco, is still actively undertaking transfer business for both sales and purchases.

It’s understood that the Catalan giants want to sign Spain’s brilliant winger, Nico Williams, but unless they sell other players first, they’re unlikely to be in a position to buy him, even if their finances have improved from a couple of seasons ago.

Barcelona receive game-changing offer for star player

The same situation remains in place with regard to William’s international team-mate, Dani Olmo.

Mundo Deportivo have advanced that the Saudi Pro League have placed a bid of €65m for wide man, Raphinha, which would arguably get Barcelona to the table to talk business.

Raphinha is attracting interest from the Saudi Pro League.

The spoke in the works of course is the player himself, given that it’s believed that he has no intention of leaving Barca.

Should the club accept the bid for his services, that is telling him in no uncertain terms that he is no longer wanted, and it’s a move that could potentially change his mind.

In terms of a financial package, one can assume that the player will earn far more in the Saudi Pro League than he would in La Liga, however, the former is only the 68th best in the world (Team Form), and that’s an obvious reason why the league will still struggle to land players that are in their pomp.

With a few weeks left of the current transfer window, it will be interesting to see if Barca are successful in easing the Brazilian out of the exit door.

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Arsenal willing to submit offer for €50m-rated La Liga star with 23-G/A last season

Saikat Chatterjee — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 11:00:53 +0000

Barcelona winger Raphinha has been linked with a move away from the club this summer and Arsenal are willing to provide him with an exit route.

Arsenal are keen on the 27-year-old Brazilian international and a report from Spanish publication SPORT claims that they would be willing to submit a substantial offer for the player. Barcelona value him at €50 million and it will be interesting to see if Barcelona are ready to break the bank.

It is no secret that Arsenal need more quality in the wide areas. Mikel Arteta has not been able to rotate players like Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka quite often due to the lack of depth in the squad. Signing another winger would be ideal.

Raphinha has proven his quality in La Liga and he was excellent for Leeds United in the Premier League prior to that. It can be argued that the 27-year-old played his best football in the Premier League with Leeds and a return to England could be ideal for him. It will help him recapture his peak form.

Barcelona are going through financial difficulties and it would not be a surprise if they decided to cash in on multiple players this summer. If Arsenal are prepared to pay the €50 million asking price for the South American attacker, it is fair to assume that a deal will eventually get.

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Raphinha is attracting interest from Arsenal.

Raphinha signing would help Arsenal

In addition to that, Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world and they will be an attractive destination for most players. They will provide the Brazilian winger with the opportunity to push for major trophies in the coming seasons.

Arsenal missed out on the league title last season and they will look to go all the way this time around. Players like Raphinha could make a big difference in the final third for them. The Brazilian picked up 10 goals and 13 assists in all competitions last season.

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€70m asking price means that Aston Villa won’t try and sign player Unai Emery loves

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 04:31:38 +0000

Unai Emery will already be getting his Aston Villa squad ready for the rigours ahead in 2024/25, which will include a first foray into the Champions League.

The last time that the Villains played in what was then the European Cup, was way back in 1982 when they won the trophy thanks to Peter Withe’s goal against Bayern Munich.

Things have changed immeasurably since then, both in terms of the European competition and domestically.

The Spaniard is looking to bring the glory days back to Villa Park after a brilliant 2023/24 campaign, and is targeting a handful of quality additions.

Villa will certainly need some decent strength in depth if they’re to get themselves out of the group stages whilst remaining competitive in the Premier League.

Last season, Newcastle began their own Champions League campaign in fine style but were ultimately knocked out in the group stage.

Aston Villa won’t be signing Raphinha

The injuries that came as a result never really cleared up, to the extent that Eddie Howe didn’t have a fully fit squad to choose from, and so Emery needs to heed that ‘warning.’

One player it’s believed that he would love to have signed to help give his squad some real impetus is Barcelona’s brilliant Brazilian, Raphinha.

However, as Mundo Deportivo report, the Catalans have slapped a prohibitive €70m fee on his head, and for that reason alone, Emery will walk away from any deal.

Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Raphinha won’t be joining Aston Villa

Whilst that might disappoint Villa fans, the club need to ensure that any business done is well within budget and doesn’t upset the equilibrium in terms of Financial Fair Play.

For all of the excitement building ahead of the new season, Emery and the board have to keep a cool head and sensibly ensure that they’re not carried away on the wave of euphoria.

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Aston Villa learn asking price of Raphinha after Nico Williams admission

Andrew Walker — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 09:35:40 +0000

Unai Emery is preparing his Aston Villa side for life in next season’s Champions League.

The Villains’ fourth-place Premier League finish last season means the Midlands giants will compete with Europe’s best next term, and the club’s summer transfer strategy is reflecting that.

Having already captured Chelsea’s Ian Maatsen and agreeing a deal for Luton Town’s Ross Barkley, Villa are quietly going about their business and bulking up Emery’s options.

However, although the Spanish tactician has been eyeing an ambitious move for Athletic Bilbao and Spain star Nico Williams, the club, according to Football Insider, acknowledges they will be unable to rival frontrunners Barcelona, and are therefore assessing alternative options.

Aston Villa turn attention to Barcelona’s Raphinha

A successful move from Barcelona for Williams could free up Raphinha and allow the Brazilian to move on after two years at the Nou Camp.

Raphinha in action for Barcelona.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, Barcelona, amid strong interest from Premier League sides, will allow the former Leeds United winger to depart for £42 million.

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