Arsenal taught brutal Raphinha transfer lesson by Barcelona after rare Edu admission on dream move
Barcelona continues to benefit from beating Arsenal to the signing of Raphinha two and a half years after the Gunners' failed move for the then- Leeds United player.
In the 2022 summer transfer window, Arsenal reputedly saw Leeds turn down an offer for the winger. Chelsea also moved to sign Raphinha, but the Catalan club ultimately won out after agreeing to a reported £55millon deal.
The Gunners instead signed Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City for £45million before paying Brighton an initial £21million for Leandro Trossard the following winter. However, they would have to pay at least the combined outlay spent on those two players if they wanted to sign Raphinha this month with the player in fine form.
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He has scored 20 goals across all competitions for Barcelona this season and assisted another 11 for his teammates. Those performances have led the player's market value on Transfermarkt to reach a record high for Raphinha days before the winter transfer window opened.
They now value him at £67.66million (€80million), a 33% increase compared to their previous update during the October international break. Since the season started, Raphinha's value has increased by 60%.
The player's rapid rise this season to become one of the top wingers in the world again makes Arsenal's failure to sign him two and a half years ago even more galling. The club's former sporting director, Edu Gaspar, had a good relationship with the player's agent, the former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Deco, but has previously explained how that was not enough to do a deal.
"I just asked Deco, 'Can you explain the situation to me for Raphinha?'" Edu recalled to Sky Sports in a rare interview later that same summer.
"And he was clear; he said, 'Edu, we have a good relationship. I'm not going to lie to you; his idea is to go to Barcelona because his dream is to go there, and we [have been talking] to Barcelona for [a] long time."
