Even if they win La Liga this season the good news for Barcelona might not last long as the reality of Financial Fair Play continues to bite, and could force the club into a sale of one of its major stars.
According to The Sun back in March, the Spanish outfit might even be subject to a transfer ban of sorts, which would continue to stop them registering new signings and current players who are due a new contract.
It wouldn’t therefore be a surprise to see economic hoop-jumping from the club as well as player sales.
In order to put themselves in the best position financially, a big name departure can’t realistically be off the table, and to that end, Sport note that Raphinha could soon be on his way back to the Premier League.
The outlet also suggest that Chelsea have again expressed an interest in signing the Brazilian after losing out to the Catalan club last summer.
Quite whether he’s the right fit for the Blues wouldn’t appear to be a problem for Todd Boehly, an owner whose modus operandi appears to be to throw money at the problem and more often than not he’ll get it right.
It seems to be a bit of a scatter gun way to run a football club but here we are.
Raphinha hasn’t done too badly for Barca, scoring seven and assisting seven in 35 club games in 2022/23 per WhoScored, and to that end he could probably still command a high fee.
It does put into perspective just how bad Barca’s financial problems must be if they’re effectively powerless from stopping their big names from being poached.