Liverpool are believed to be monitoring the situation of Barcelona star Rafinha Alcantara, with Arsenal and Juventus also interested in the player. Mundo Deportivo (h/t IBTimes) claim that the 3 European clubs have approached the Brazilian regarding a potential switch in the summer. However, there is no official bid so far and negotiations are still wide open to be concluded.
Rafinha, 24, has been one of the latest starts to break through into the Barcelona first-team after coming through the prolific La Masia academy. The versatile midfielder enjoyed an impressive spell on loan at Celta Vigo under Luis Enrique in the 2013-2014 campaign before returning to the Nou Camp in the summer of 2014 when the Spanish boss took over from Gerard Martino.
The Brazilian missed much of the previous campaign due to an injury, but he has still played an important role at Barcelona this season, both as a starter and as an impact substitute. In November 2015 Barcelona rewarded him with a new long-term deal until 2020, setting his buyout clause in €75m (£64.8m, $81m) in order to ward off potential suitors.
However, with Luis Enrique set to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, there are doubts being raised regarding the defender’s future at Camp Nou. Rafinha’s brother Thiago left Barcelona to join Bayern Munich and the likes of Liverpool could tempt him to make a similar move if the Catalans don’t guarantee him regular playing time.
Earlier in the season, Rafinha said that his dream was to succeed at Barcelona but he refused to rule out a move away in the near future should he fail to establish himself in Barcelona’s starting line-up.
He was quoted by IBT: “I want to continue at Barcelona but if I’m not given many minutes I’ll consider leaving because what I want is to play. But we will see,” Rafinha said during an interview with Catalunya Radio. “The best thing for a footballer, the normal thing, is to want to be on the pitch. If that’s not here, there’s nothing wrong in going out on loan. But I’ll do everything I can to play for Barcelona.”
Rafinha added: “It is difficult to play regularly in a club like Barcelona because here we have the best players in the word,” he said. “I remembered that when I was promoted from the second team, and the club gave me the chance to move on loan I didn’t think twice. I wanted to play.”
This might be a smart move from Liverpool if they manage to secure Rafinha’s signature in the summer. He has been brilliant for Barcelona this season and has sizzled in all the positions that he has played under Luis Enrique. The quality is there to see and Jurgen Klopp would do well to bring the defender to Anfield.
