Fabrizio Romano provides Raphinha update as Manchester City agree to sell Riyad Mahrez

Barcelona had a tricky first year with Raphinha, as the two adjusted to each other and eventually found some common ground for a functional relationship. However given he is one of the few pieces with market value that they could afford to lose, as they struggle to afford new recruits, speculation is likely to persist.

Yesterday it was reported that Manchester City may be interested in Raphinha as a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, who will shortly be headed to Saudi Arabia. Fabrizio Romano told Caught Offside that deal was a matter of time.

“Man City want a winger for sure, they need one now. Mahrez is gone, the deal is almost done,” he explained on his exclusive Substack column.

However currently they have not been in touch with Barcelona about the Brazilian.

“I’m not aware of anything concrete for Raphinha as of today. As for Bernardo Silva, PSG keep pushing but Man City will insist on keeping him at the club, they will do their best to convince Bernardo.”

Barcelona have for some time been interested in Silva themselves, but a deal looks impossible given the thin finances mentioned above. From Catalonia, both club and player maintain that they will not be considering a move.

Yet if City were to decide to move for Raphinha, they would no doubt like their chances of testing Barcelona’s resolve, were they able to persuade the player. A major sale would ease the financial pressure significantly at Barcelona, allow them to register their players, and give them a chance to finally address their chronic right-back issues.