Raphinha is now Barcelona’s key player but would not have been the case back in 2022 when he joined the club from Leeds United.
The Brazilian winger was among former manager Xavi Hernandez’s first crop of signings in 2022. He joined the club for £50m on a five-year contract, and quickly solidified his spot as an integral member of the squad.
It was not an overly impressive campaign with the Catalan giants on his debut season. He tallied 14 goals contributions, comprising 7 goals and 7 assists, helping the team to the La Liga title that season.
His debut Champions League campaign fell below par as he couldn’t muster an assist or a goal in five appearances before the team crashed out of the tournament.
In the 2023-24 campaign, he scored 6 La Liga goals and provided 9 assists in 28 matches. In the Champions League, he scored 3 goals with 2 assists in 7 matches.
Raphinha Reveals Why He Wanted to Leave Barcelona
Despite a largely optimal showing in his last two seasons, Raphinha has disclosed that he wanted to leave Barcelona.
Speaking with ESPN, he admitted that “a lot of self-doubt” previously led to him considering an exit from Camp Nou.
Earlier this week, the Brazil international scored a hat-trick as the Catalan giants thrashed Bayern Munich by a 4-1 scoreline in the Champions League.
That has taken the 27-year-old to nine goals and six assists in La Liga and Europe during 2024-25, one of the best returns on the continent.
Despite that impressive haul, though, there has not always been a wave of positivity surrounding the former Leeds United star.
Particularly, the club’s board were prepared to cash in on his signature to ensure that all of La Liga’s and UEFA’s financial regulations were met.
Raphinha totalled 13 goals and 16 assists to his name from his first two La Liga campaigns, yet that was not enough to justify his price tag or win over a large majority of the club’s support.
While he has since progressed into one of the most important players at the club and wore the captain’s armband in the 4-1 win over Bayern Munich, he has revealed that he fell uncomfortable in his first two seasons with the club.
“Man, there were several moments, not just one. My first six months here, the period from the summer transfer window until the World Cup, was a season in which I didn’t have the best of starts, so it crossed my mind to leave the club”, he said.
He also revealed his self-doubt and thoughts of leaving was due to his attitude of heavily criticizing himself and expecting more but that changed after the 2022 World cup.
He added, “There was a lot of self-doubt. I have a nasty habit of criticizing myself heavily, so to speak so that pressure made me think about leaving.
“Then, obviously, after the World Cup, I had a huge turnaround, managing to put up great numbers in six months.”
Additionally, he revealed his injury also stirred the self-doubt, including calls by Barcelona fans that he should leave.
“Last season, after the injuries I had, the sending off [in the first game versus Getafe], and also at the end of the season, seeing a lot of things that the club wanted to sell me, that the fans wanted me to leave, it also ends up crossing your mind to leave, to go somewhere where there’s no pressure.”
Raphinha’s future now at Barcelona?
Raphinha has never made any secret of the fact that Barcelona is his dream club, subsequently leading to him rejecting the advances of Arsenal and Chelsea two years ago.
There had previously been a limited chance of a contract renewal due to the stance that club officials would happily sell the big-money addition for the right price.
However, even with just over two-and-a-half years left on his contract, that now seems unlikely, Raphinha having now contributed 29 goals and 33 assists from his 100 appearances in a Barcelona shirt.
He will be looking to help Barcelona move six points clear of Real Madrid when they meet in the first EL Clasico of the season at the Bernabeu.
