Barcelona's $60 million star who could be Neymar Junior's teammate in Saudi Arabia

Barcelona have not had a great performance during the first half of the 2023/24 season. Although they had started well, getting several victories and showing a good level, as time went by things became more difficult for them and that was noticed in the results. In La Liga they are third, seven points behind leaders Girona and Real Madrid, while in the Champions League they lost two of their last three matches in Group H, although that did not prevent them from qualifying for the round of 16.

Xavi Hernandez knows that the team needs to improve and that is why he requested the signing of players in the January transfer window. So far, the only one who arrived was Vitor Roque, thanks to the exception to the financial fair-play limitations that allowed Gavi's injury. But that is not enough, as the coach also sees the need for a holding midfielder.

However, financial problems make it difficult for Los Blaugranas to sign players. One solution may be to sell some of the squad's star players, which would allow them to receive money and also gain room to register players in La Liga without violating fair-play limitations.

With this scenario, it is possible that they could receive an offer for a player. According to Sport newspaper, Al-Hilal are interested in Raphinha. The Saudi Arabian team needs a forward to replace Neymar, who suffered a serious knee injury and will not play again until next season. The problem is that the Brazilian winger is a key player for Xavi and letting him leave in the middle of the tournament could affect the team's performance. So maybe they will wait until the summer and then they will be willing to negotiate.

How much is he worth?

Raphinha arrived at Barcelona in 2022 after excelling at Leeds United. At that time, Barcelona paid a fortune for him: more than $60 million. However, his performances have not lived up to expectations and so it is possible that they will accept an offer for him in the near future. In addition to Al-Hilal, Newcastle is mentioned as an option.