‘My dream…’: £55m player says he actually rejected Chelsea this summer despite Arsenal pushing for him
There was a point this summer in which both Arsenal and Chelsea thought they were signing Raphinha from Leeds.
Alas, the Brazilian eventually joined Barcelona, who somehow cobbled together a vast sum of money for this deal and a number of other transfers over the summer, despite them apparently owing more than £1bn.
Andrea Radrizzani has recently confirmed that Leeds fended off interest from Tottenham and Arsenal for Raphinha before he did leave. However, the winger himself has said that it was actually Chelsea who he rejected a full proposal from, as he pursued what he calls his ‘dream’ move to the Camp Nou.
Brazil Training Session
“Yes, because my dream was to wear the Barcelona shirt, which is a club that I have followed since I was very young,” Raphinha responded when asked if he’d turned down Chelsea. (90Min)
“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.”
News of this will no doubt confuse Arsenal fans a tad, who believed they were close to signing the Brazilian at one point.
TBR’s View: Raphinha Was Always Going To Barca
He’d made it known pretty early in the window his admiration for the Catalan club and with Deco working for him, realistically it was always going to be Barca or Chelsea in the end.
How and why the Spanish side have paid for Raphinha is another matter but from the player’s side, you can’t really complain at his decision. They remain one of the world’s biggest clubs, and their squad this season is quite something.
Raphinha will be missed in the Premier League and there’s no doubt Leeds fans will be keeping an eye on his progress.
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