Barcelona star admits he gave serious consideration to departure

A leading member of the attacking ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona has on Monday opened on the difficulties he faced during his early days in the club’s colours.

The player in question? Raphinha.

Wide-man Raphinha is for his part of course in the midst of a blistering start to the new campaign, capped off by a first-career hat-trick in Barca’s 7-0 drubbing of Real Valladolid in midweek.

This comes fresh off yet another summer, though, which saw the Brazilian international heavily linked with a move away from Catalunya’s capital.

Amid the efforts of the Camp Nou brass to bring in Nico Williams from Athletic Club, Raphinha was time and time again tipped to make way for the Euro 2024 winner.

Continuing their relationship has since proven to be the best path forward for club and player alike, but, on Monday, Raphinha himself has provided an insight into a point at which he did give serious consideration to moving on.

Speaking in a soon-to-be released interview with RAC1, the former Leeds United man explained:

“Did I ever think about leaving Barcelona? Yes, I did. The first 6 months were really difficult but then I slowly started to adapt.”

Conor Laird | GSFN