Manchester United have been boosted in their bid to sign Raphinha from Barcelona after putting in a £127m offer as the Brazilian now feels ‘betrayed’ by a teammate.
Ruben Amorim is working closely with newly-promoted Director of Football Jason Wilcox to rebuild an ailing Manchester United squad which produced the worst season in living memory last term.
The focus is very much on attacking players in the transfer market, with Matheus Cunha already joining the club after the Red Devils triggered his £62.5m release clause to land him from Wolves.
Having been beaten to the signing of Liam Delap – who impressed on his debut for Chelsea on Monday – they’re also scouring the market for a new No.9, though their pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres appears to have ended after the striker told them where to go.
They’ve had one bid rejected for Bryan Mbeumo of £55m plus a further £10m in add-ons rejected by Brentford, and are considering an improved bid amid competition from Thomas Frank’s Tottenham.
According to a report from Spanish outlet Fichajes on Monday the Red Devils have made a genuinely unbelievable ‘offer of €150m [£127m] for Raphinha’.
It was later revealed that some Barcelona bosses see the potential transfer as the ‘perfect move’ to ease their financial woes, and may in fact be boosted by Raphinha being ‘upset’ at their imminent signing of Nico Williams from Athletic Club.
Barcelona have fended off competition from Arsenal and Bayern Munich to land their long-term target, who Fabrizio Romano confirms has reached an ‘agreement’ over a six-year contract.
He tweeted: “Nico Williams and Barça have agreed personal terms on 6 year deal!
“Agreement sealed on player’s contract until June 2031 with the salary in the region of €7/8m net per season. Barça are currently working on financial terms to get deal done with Athletic.”
The report in Spain suggests Williams’ imminent move to Barcelona has pushed Raphinha to ‘threaten to leave’ because he ‘doesn’t approve’ of the signing as he fears dropping in the pecking order.
‘According to sources close to the club , Raphinha has expressed his displeasure to the club’s management. Although he hasn’t submitted a formal request to leave, he has made it clear that if he loses prominence in the coming months, he will seriously consider his future. The situation has generated tension within the Barcelona team.’
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And now another report from Spain claims there’s now an ‘added element of tension’, with Raphinha not happy with the role Lamine Yamal has played in luring Williams to the club.
Yamal and Williams are known to have a strong friendship built through their time playing together for the Spanish national team and Yamal posted a photograph on social media with Williams after the first contacts were made to sign the 22-year-old.
The report claims that ‘gesture has not been well received by Raphinha, who in a way feels betrayed by his ally’.
The report adds that ‘the possibility of having to compete for minutes with a similar and high-level profile has set off the Brazilian’s alarms’, though it’s also been claimed that Hansi Flick plans to move Raphinha into the No.10 role to accommodate Williams on the left wing.
South American journalist Miguel Angel Lopez provided more details on Man Utd’s interest in Raphinha, claiming they would have made a move had they qualified for the Champions League.
He revealed: “Manchester United were ready to push to sign Raphinha from Barcelona this summer.
“Ruben Amorim is a massive fan of Raphinha. Manchester United failing to qualify for the UCL negatively affected their budget and also ruined any chance of signing the Brazilian.”
