BARCELONA
Barcelona: To sell Raphinha or not?
Barça paid €65m to Leeds and the player, who signed for five years, earns around €12m gross per year.
Raphinha’s excellent first season at Barcelona (10 goals and 11 assists) is not enough to ensure that he will stay at the club. Ousmane Dembélé will have his place in the team once again after injury but the club won’t make a return on the Frenchman because his contract expires in 2024 and they would receive €25m of his €50m release clause. But with Raphinha, there could still be hope of balancing the books. However, for that to happen, the Blaugrana would need the go-ahead from the player.
If Barça are definitely going to sell Raphinha, they need to settle the €100m they still have to pay off. Barça paid €65m to Leeds and the player, who signed for five years, earns around €12m gross per year. Raphinha costs them €25m a year, so with four seasons left on his contract, it would take a big offer for Barça to make a profit.
If the Brazilian decides to leave because he has an offer (in the Premier League the Brazilian has a big reputation), Barça would free up the €12m gross that he earns.
Ansu out?
The sale of Ansu Fati would free up a salary that is the same as Raphinha’s. That would be a ‘win-win’ for Barça. However, club president Joan Laporta would have a lot of explaining to do if a La Masia graduate ends up succeeding elsewhere.
Ferran Torres’ case is a similar one to Raphinha’s, as Barcelona still have to pay back around €80m for a transfer that, with variables, came to €62m, of which the club still has to recover around €45m in transfer fees alone. As Mateu Alemany warned, the summer “is going to be interesting, I’m telling you”.