Raphinha only wanted Barcelona: Deco to Arsenal director Edu

The Brazilian winger has joined Blaugrana on a 5-year contract.

Raphinha recently joined Barcelona from Premier League side Leeds United for a reported €60m fee. The Brazilian winger has penned down a 5-year contract with the Blaugrana.

Barcelona managed to sign the winger despite the financial trouble at the club. Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea were keen to sign the winger. Chelsea in particular were keen to sign the winger and even agreed on a transfer fee with Leeds United. But the blues could not get the deal over the line as the Brazilian star has his eyes set on Barcelona.

Raphinha has already shown his class in the Barcelona shirt. He recorded one goal and two assists in his debut game in pre-season against MLS side Inter Miami. The winger also scored the only goal in the 1-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in pre-season.

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Arsenal director Edu revealed that Raphinha only wanted to join Spanish giants Barcelona. He said:

“People think we went in too deep about Raphinha, because Raphinha was everywhere,”. “It’s fair, we did have some conversations with Deco because Deco is his agent and I have a good relationship [with him] – we are friends.

“I just said to Deco, ‘can you explain to me the situation with Raphinha?’ and he was clear, ‘Edu, we have a good relationship but I’m not going to lie to you, his idea is to go to Barcelona because he’s dreaming to go to Barcelona, and we’ve been talking to Barcelona since a long time ago’.

“[I said] ‘okay, thank you very much, if something happens then just let me know because I can explore and understand the situation. If not, no problem and we carry on with our relationship.” he added.

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