Olympic gold medalist Rafinha has reportedly admitted he may pursue a move away from Barcelona in lieu of regular first-team football.
Goal.com have run a story that Brazilian youngster Rafinha could seek a move away from Barcelona if he is not afforded regular playing time at the club. The La Masia product is fresh off a gold medal winning campaign at the Rio Olympics where the 23-year-old was involved in Brazil’s maiden Olympic triumph alongside fellow Barcelona teammate Neymar.
Rafinha joined Barcelona at the age of 13 and has gone through his footballing education at the famous La Masia. The 23-year-old was handed his Liga BBVA debut as a Blaugrane by current manager Luis Enrique at the beginning of the 2014-15 season.
The attacking midfielder has since gone on to make 30 league appearances for the club despite spending a substantial part of last season out with a knee injury.
Barcelona have strengthened their creative options with the arrival of Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes, which could push Rafinha down the pecking order and is sure to dent his chances of regular playing time at the club.
The player was interviewed by local station Catalunya Radio wherein he stated his desire of establishing himself in the first-team fold at Nou Camp while also remaining practical about his chances of achieving the same.
“I am not thinking about leaving. The truth is that I want to be here at Barca. It is normal that a player wants to play. I will give my all to get playing time at Barca.”
“The best thing for a footballer, the normal thing, is to want to be on the pitch. If that doesn’t happen here, there is no problem in me going on loan elsewhere,” Rafinha told Catalunya Radio.
Rafinha has already seen his brother Thiago leave the club for Bayern Munich earlier and the player has himself admitted that if he is unable to establish himself in the squad in the 2016-17 season, he may be forced to look elsewhere in search of regular first-team football.
Former Barcelona youngster Adama Traore is reportedly on the brink of completing a move to Premier League side Middlesbrough.
Daily Mirror have reported that Adama Traore is close to sealing a permanent transfer to join recently promoted Premier League side Middlesbrough from Aston Villa, who were relegated last season.
Traore arrived at Aston Villa last summer from Barcelona in a £7m deal with high expectations surrounding his transfer. The player, though, failed to show any kind of consistency and form for his club. The 20-year-old managed just 11 Premier League appearances with a disappointing return of 1 goal as Villa were relegated down to the championship.
The player missed the final weeks of last season due to injury and Mirror report that Aston Villa are ready to cash in on the La Masia product, which would free up a lot of wage as the winger is currently under a £40,000 per-week contract at the club.
Aston Villa are expected to want to recoup most of the £7m paid to Barcelona in order to secure the player’s services in the first place, a figure which Middlesbrough are reportedly ready to pay.
Barcelona have first refusal on the player, but are unlikely to use it and may have even communicated their desire or lack of to sign the player back.
Birmingham Mail have reported that Adama Traore is expected to undergo a medical at Middlesbrough before the transfer deadline with the club confident of pushing the deal through before the transfer window shuts down.
It will be interesting to see if Adama Traore can put a horrible Premier League debut season behind him and show the world and Aston Villa why he was so highly rated at Barcelona.