Arsenal reportedly look in a strong position to seal the potential transfer of Barcelona winger Raphinha this summer as Newcastle United no longer looked to be in the race for his signature.
The Brazil international was a star player for Leeds United during his time in the Premier League, but he’s not quite got going at Barca and it may be that his stay at the Nou Camp will end up being short-lived.
A recent report from Sport claimed Arsenal chief Edu had been in frequent contact over a potential deal to bring Raphinha to the Emirates Stadium, while strong interest from Newcastle has also been reported by Gerard Romero, as per the tweet below…
? NOTICIA @JijantesFC
El Barça ha recibido una propuesta verbal del Newcastle por Raphinha
El club inglés estaría dispuesto a ofrecer una cifra de alrededor de 80M€ por el jugador brasileño
? ¡Lo contamos en https://t.co/OGW0AKAWMl!
— Jijantes FC (@JijantesFC) May 3, 2023
However, it’s now claimed by the Telegraph that Raphinha is not on Newcastle’s list of targets following some recruitment meetings to identify potential signings for this summer.
This should come as good news to Arsenal if they decide to push hard for the signing of Raphinha, who could be a useful option to give Mikel Arteta more depth up front next season.
While Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have been superb this term, there might be room for more backup options, while some might even argue Raphinha would be an automatic starter and Martinelli could perhaps shift into a more central role.