According to information from the Spanish newspaper ‘‘El Nacional‘‘, Rafinha Díaz has become one of the standout stars of the season, a feat that is difficult to find a precedent for. It is hard to remember a player who, in the span of a year, was so heavily criticized by fans and even demanded to be sold, only to become a Ballon d’Or contender. However, Barcelona takes pride in not selling the 28-year-old winger last summer.
Joan Laporta was determined to sell him if an offer exceeding €60 million was received, which would have allowed the club to recoup its initial investment and, at the same time, finance the signing of Neco Williams. Fortunately, no team made such an offer, and Rafinha refused to leave Camp Nou, sticking to his repeated statements about his desire to succeed and leave a significant mark on the club, as his compatriots Ronaldinho Gaucho and Neymar Jr. had done previously.
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For his part, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick was confident in his ability to maximize the potential of the former Leeds United player, in addition to his experience at Sporting Lisbon and Stade Rennais. He expressed his confidence in Rafinha’s abilities from the start and appointed him as the team’s fourth captain. This decision has led to Rafinha delivering a series of impressive performances and achieving remarkable statistics.
His 27 goals and 19 assists in all competitions have positioned him as one of the best footballers in the world, prompting major clubs to contact his agent in an attempt to persuade him to leave Barcelona. Clubs such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, and Al-Hilal were willing to pay over €100 million, but Deco repeatedly rejected all of these offers.
Both Joan Laporta and Deco agree that Rafinha’s performances have been outstanding, and therefore they would prefer to renew his contract rather than lose him. However, it appears that Rafinha will exploit his current situation to demand a significant salary increase that would make him one of the club’s highest-paid players. He will not accept anything less than €14 million net per season. The question remains: Will Laporta and Deco accept these financial demands?
