Manchester City have numerous ties to Barcelona.
As well as Pep Guardiola being a former player and manager of the Spanish club, City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain also played and had the same role he has now at Barcelona previously.
However, Begiristain is set to leave his role as City’s sporting director at the end of the season.
In addition to that, City have been involved in transfer deals with Barcelona, most notably seeing Ilkay Gundogan join them on a free transfer in 2023, only to then return to the Etihad Stadium a year later.
Now though, the Citizens have set their sights on securing a future transfer deal for one of Barcelona’s current stars.
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Man City eyeing Raphinha transfer amid Barcelona uncertainty
A recent report from TeamTalk claims that City have shortlisted Raphinha as a potential transfer target, as the winger could leave Barcelona in the next summer transfer window.
The report also adds that Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr are also interested in the Brazilian, who City had their eyes on as a potential replacement for Riyad Mahrez back in the summer of 2023.
Back in 2021, while the Brazil international was still at Leeds United, Guardiola described Raphinha as an “exceptional” player (via Yorkshire Evening Post).
How has Raphinha performed this season?
Since joining Barcelona from Leeds back in the 2022 summer transfer window, the 27-year-old has appeared in 99 games prior to their Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
Across those matches, Raphinha has bagged 26 goals and supplied 33 assists.
The former Leeds star has started this season in hot form, as he’s scored six goals and provided eight assists in 12 appearances across La Liga and the Champions League.
In fact, Raphinha has made more key passes (36) and shot-creating actions (54) than any other player in La Liga.
This makes it easy to see why City have him on their radar, despite having a number of wingers already in their squad such as Savinho, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb.
