Barcelona winger denies reports claiming he is willing to leave: “This is lying”

Raphinha has become a hot topic in Barcelona recently, with various reports across Spain suggesting he could be on the verge of leaving Camp Nou in the coming summer.

In one such report from SPORT, it was claimed that Raphinha has accepted leaving Barcelona at the end of the season.

However, the forward has publicly denied the report. Commenting on an Instagram post, he said, “Lying. This is lying. Whoever said this is a liar, uninformed and unprofessional. If you delete my comment, I will post this on my Instagram.”

Raphinha’s comments came in the midst of Barcelona’s ongoing efforts to reduce the salary mass in the squad. Although the attacker has categorically denied the report from Diario SPORT, various other Spanish news outlets have claimed that the club could offload several players in the coming summer.

One of them could be Raphinha. The Brazilian international still holds a lot of clout in English football, with Newcastle United and Chelsea among the clubs interested in his services.

Having performed exceptionally well during his previous stint at Leeds United, the English clubs are aware of the fact that the attacker has what it takes to prevail in the physical nature of English football – making him an excellent option.

Barcelona, for their part, are aware of this trend and are likely to ask around €80 million for his services. The potential exit of Raphinha could go a long way in helping Barça generate some much-needed revenue and reduce the overall salary, which in turn, could enable the club to sign players in the market.

However, Raphinha has made it clear that he has not yet accepted his fate and it will be interesting to see how things transpire over the coming weeks.