Chelsea move for £55m Brazilian now 'one to watch' at Stamford Bridge | OneFootball

Chelsea are 'still keeping tabs' on Barcelona winger Raphinha after missing out on him before he moved to Spain, journalist Simon Phillips has told GIVEMESPORT.

The 26-year-old signed for Barcelona during the summer transfer window, but Chelsea were close to securing his signature.

Raphinha signed for Barcelona for a fee of £55m from Premier League side Leeds United, as per Sky Sports.

The Brazilian played a pivotal role in helping Leeds stay in the top-flight of English football before completing his move to the Catalan giants.

Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani revealed last summer that Raphinha was close to signing for Chelsea before he joined Barcelona.

Speaking to The Athletic, he said: “For me, it was done, and when I have a deal my word is my word. I felt ashamed to go back to Todd Boehly and change my position.

“We made the deal with Chelsea because the player wanted to go and he was open to listening to offers from Premier League clubs. Chelsea was in his favourable [option]. But unfortunately, let’s say Barcelona influences convinced the player to wait, to wait, to wait until they could find a solution.”

What has Phillips said about Raphinha?

Phillips has confirmed that Raphinha does still have admirers at Stamford Bridge, and it’s certainly ‘one to watch’ ahead of the summer window.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: “Yeah, this is one to watch for sure. I was told months ago that Chelsea were still keeping tabs on Raphinha, even after he joined Barcelona. He was fairly close to joining Chelsea at one point before Barcelona came in.

“Many at Chelsea still like him. Obviously, he chose Barcelona, they were his dream and he made that pretty clear publicly as well, but Chelsea have still been there."

How has Raphinha performed this season?

The Brazilian winger has been in impressive form since making his dream move to Spain. Only Robert Lewandowski has scored more league goals than Raphinha in a Barcelona shirt this campaign, as per FBref.

It’s not just his goals which have been a huge positive since joining Barcelona. Raphinha has managed four league assists, 11 big chances created and 1.5 key passes per game, as per Sofascore.