Barcelona are reportedly prepared to offer €10m (£8.5m) plus Raphinha for one of Manchester United’s rising stars in this summer’s transfer window.
Barcelona are reportedly prepared to offer €10m (£8.5m) plus Raphinha for one of Manchester United‘s rising stars in this summer’s transfer window.
Raphinha has spent the last two seasons at Camp Nou since completing a £55m transfer from Leeds United, and he has made 87 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 20 goals and providing 25 assists.
The 27-year-old winger won the La Liga title and Supercopa de Espana in his debut campaign at Barca, before contributing with 10 goals and 13 assists across 25 starts and 12 substitute outings in Barca’s trophyless 2023-24 season.
Raphinha was restricted to only 17 starts in La Liga last season, largely due to the emergence of teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal and the addition of Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, a player Barca are keen to sign on a permanent deal.
The Brazil international still has three years remaining on his contract at Camp Nou, but he continues to be linked with a summer exit amid Barcelona’s well-documented financial issues.
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Barca plotting player-plus-cash deal for Mainoo
A recent report claims that Arsenal have seen a £34m bid for Raphinha rebuffed by Barcelona, who value the winger in the region of £50m.
According to Spanish news outlet El Nacional, Barca are keen to ‘get rid’ of Raphinha this summer and because they are yet to receive any other concrete proposals for the winger from interested suitors, they are prepared to include him in a swap deal with one of their targets.
The report states that Barca’s new head coach Hansi Flick is ‘convinced’ that he can lure Man United starlet Kobbie Mainoo to Catalonia and has informed club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco of his desire to sign the 19-year-old.
As a result, Laporta is said to be lining up an offer a €10m (£8.5m) plus Raphinha for Mainoo, a proposal he hopes will persuade Man United’s minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe to part ways with the England midfielder.
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Mainoo considered ‘untouchable’ by Man United
Barca’s offer will most likely be quickly rejected by Man United, though, as they have no interest in selling Mainoo and view the academy graduate as one of three ‘untouchable’ players along with Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.
Mainoo joined Man United at the age of nine and worked his way through the club’s youth ranks before signing his first professional contract in May 2022.
The teenager was only handed his first Premier League start by manager Erik ten Hag in November last year, but he has since blossomed into one of the club’s key players and scored in their FA Cup final triumph over rivals Manchester City last month.
Mainoo’s impressive rise at club level has been rewarded with a senior call-up to Gareth Southgate‘s 26-man England squad for Euro 2024 this summer.
The midfielder, who has a contract at Old Trafford until June 2027, is not the only midfielder on Barcelona’s shortlist, as the likes of Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, Everton’s Amadou Onana, and Real Sociedad duo Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino have also been linked with a switch to Camp Nou.