'It would have changed my life!' - Raphinha was 'really tempted' by mammoth Saudi Arabia transfer offer but reveals Hansi Flick call changed his mind ahead of Ballon d'Or candidate's sensational Barcelona season

Raphinha had two underwhelming seasons at the Camp Nou ever since he arrived from Leeds in 2022. In the summer of 2024, the Catalans found themselves in both sporting and financial turmoil, with the winger one of the players the club was keen on selling. However, a phone call with Flick changed his mind. 

"I was thinking about leaving Barca after the 2024 Copa America," he said back in March. “I wasn’t feeling mentally comfortable until Flick called me. Every day, there were rumours about me signing for one team or another. Things didn’t go as they should have; I had a worse season than expected, and I saw people asking me to leave while reports of my departure surfaced daily. I seriously considered leaving."

In April, reports surfaced that Al-Hilal were preparing a mouth-watering bid worth €100 million (£87m/$117m) and a four-year contract worth €170m (£150m/$200m). At the time, he conceded that he would have accepted the offer.

Now, in a recent interview with ESPN, the 28-year-old said that accepting the offer from Saudi in 2024 "would have changed my life." 

"I've been playing football since I was 15, I've been through good times and bad times everywhere, so there came a point when I thought it was time to take care of myself and my family. The offer we had from Saudi Arabia really tempted me. It would have solved not just my personal life, but also the lives of my parents, my son... a lot of people.

"Obviously, we thought about leaving [Barcelona]. I thought it might be time to leave, but then we talked to [Flick], first on the phone and then at the beginning of the preseason, and he managed to convince me to stay. I'm glad he did."

The Porto Alegre-born attacker smashed Champions League records and scored important goals in some of the biggest games, including several goals against rivals Real Madrid, a Champions League hat-trick against Bayern Munich, as well as a crucial goal in the final minute of the semi-final second leg against Inter at San Siro. In all, he scored 34 goals and produced 26 assists in 57 games for La Blaugrana, achieving a career-best fifth-place finish at the 2025 Ballon d'Or rankings. 

The former Vitoria de Guimaraes wonderkid penned a new deal last season, which will see him remain in Catalunya until 2028. He began the 2025-26 season in similar vein, scoring three goals and registering two assists in six La Liga games so far. However, the Catalans' mounting injury crisis was only exacerbated by the hamstring issue suffered by Raphinha, which saw him take no part in the 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. He is expected to remain on the sidelines until next week, which means he will, in all likelihood, miss the La Liga encounter against neighbours Girona. He could be fit in time for the high-voltage clash against Real Madrid on October 26.