Raphinha explains the reason behind rejecting a move to Chelsea in favour of Barcelona
Speaking in an interview to La Vanguardia as quoted by Football. London, Barcelona star signing Raphinha has revealed the reason why he rejected Chelsea to join the Spanish giants from Leeds United this summer.
The Brazilian winger has gone on to claim that whilst there was the option of joining the Blues, it had always been his dream to play for Barcelona and that the former Leeds United man had followed the Catalan club ever since Ronaldinho’s time over there.
In what was one of the most interesting transfer sagas that dragged on for quite a while during the transfer window, Chelsea seemed to have gotten their man after agreeing on a deal with Leeds for Raphinha only to see their bid hijacked at the last moment.
Raphinha eventually got his wish and is now a Barcelona player. The 25-year-old winger has already hit the ground running at Camp Nou and has had a good start to life in Spain and he is already showing Chelsea what they missed out on.
A player who can do almost everything on a football pitch, Raphinha is one of those rare wingers who can occupy the wing, dribble, get past players, shoot, play an unbelievable pass and also work hard in defence and win the ball back when the situation arises.
Raphinha showed all these abilities in the two seasons he spent at Leeds United which made him one of Marcelo Bielsa’s most trusted players during the Argentinian’s time at Elland Road. It also explained why many teams were willing to pay the big bucks for the Brazilian.
Speaking about rejecting Chelsea, Raphinha went on to confirm that it was only because he preferred the Barcelona move more as it was the club he dreamt of.
“Rejecting an offer from Chelsea? Yes, because my dream was to wear the Barca shirt. I followed them since I was young, since Ronaldinho arrived. I wanted to be a part of it.”
Raphinha even went on to hint that the Blues could have been the club that presented the better financial offer but his desire was what mattered to him more than the money.
“The desire was stronger than any other proposal, no matter how powerful it was financially. I knew that I might have some difficulties to come and to be registered. But I was also aware of the effort the club was making”
Chelsea eventually ended up signing Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as options for their forward line. They have not had the best of starts to the season and this has meant that the axe has already fallen on Thomas Tuchel’s head.
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It remains to be seen how the Blues come back from this situation under Graham Potter. Raphinha is one of the players they missed out on but they still have a very strong squad and could still turn things around this season.