Raphinha offers Barcelona future hint amid talk of transfer interest from Arsenal

• Brazilian moved to Camp Nou in 2022
• Was linked with Gunners back then
• Switch to north London speculated on again

WHAT HAPPENED? The 26-year-old winger, who formed part of his country’s plans at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, only left English football last summer when completing a big-money move from Leeds to Camp Nou. He is already being linked with a return to the Premier League with Arsenal, though, after the Gunners missed out on signing both Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk - who have both joined Chelsea. However, despite this speculation, Raphinha seemed to suggest that he would be staying put in the short term.

WHAT THEY SAID: After stepping off the bench to help Barca to a 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, Raphinha told reporters: “This is my first trophy with this giant club, this enormous shirt of FC Barcelona - it’s incredible. And so now we go for more trophies.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: With more silverware in Raphinha’s sights, he would appear to have no intention of discussing an imminent switch to Emirates Stadium – despite regular starts having proved hard to come by this season in a star-studded Barcelona squad.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Getty Images

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WHAT NEXT? Arsenal will continue to scour the market for potential additions, as they sit top of the Premier League table, but prising South American star Raphinha away from the Liga table-toppers may prove difficult as the winter window will close for business on January 31.