Raphinha makes Chelsea and Arsenal financial claim regarding Leeds United transfer saga
Raphinha claims he turned down better financial offers so that he could join Barcelona from Leeds United this summer
Leeds are still licking their wounds from the loss of Raphinha this summer, exacerbated by replacement Luis Sinisterra picking up a suspected hamstring injury on his first start of pre-season.
United bid farewell to the Brazilian international earlier this month, meanwhile Raphinha has wasted little time in endearing himself to the Barcelona support, scoring from outside the box in a 1-0 friendly win over Real Madrid in the United States last week.
Following his signing at Camp Nou, the 25-year-old revealed it was a childhood dream come true to represent the Blaugrana.
He has also insisted that better offers – from a financial perspective, at least – were rejected in order to join the LaLiga giants.
"I had many offers and they were all better economically, but I always made it clear to everyone that my desire was to play for Barça. It was my dream since I was a child,” he said.
Raphinha had offers from Chelsea and Arsenal to consider but had made it clear to his representatives that Barcelona’s approach was the only one he was materially interested in taking up.
Once the Catalan club were able to arrange their finances and a fee agreed with Leeds, there was nothing standing in Raphinha’s way from fulfilling a childhood objective.