Raphinha, who is a transfer target for Arsenal, has had a whirlwind 24 hours. During the thrilling 2-2 tie between Barcelona and Manchester United, the Brazilian winger scored his team’s equalizer before being replaced.
Seconds later, the ex-Leeds United player was spotted hitting the bench chair in front of him in rage. As Xavi’s men pushed a winner at Camp Nou his evening was cut short.
Ferran Torres was given a brief cameo but the attention was firmly on Raphinha’s reaction. The timing of his outburst comes just one day earlier than a video with social media content creator Adri Contreras was released.
🥶 El enfado de Raphinha en el banquillo y Jordi Alba intentando calmarlo. pic.twitter.com/a1AoofWo7p
— Iniestazo (@INIE8TAZO) February 16, 2023
In the video Raphinha was asked who he favourite sides were outside of England, to which he responded: “I love Arsenal and PSG.”
It comes in a set of quickfire questions put to the 26-year-old with Mikel Arteta’s men the first referenced.
Raphinha was intriguingly a big target for the Gunners over the summer with a bid being lodged for him before Barcelona swooped in to secure his signature from Chelsea’s grasp.
The financial turmoil that the Catalan side are experiencing has clouded his future though.
Despite a strong league season domestically, the Champions League group stage fiasco has seen them come under increasing strain with the likelihood of several stars leaving at the end of the season.
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With Arsenal’s admiration for Raphinha well documented, it has opened up a chance of going back in for the exciting forward.
Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Magalhaes already form a strong Brazilian trio at the Emirates Stadium and the form of the former has raised concerns over the depth in the squad despite signing Leandro Trossard last month.
His latest comments and the clear frustration on Thursday night have put him in the spotlight once more, though he has come out to apologise for the incident, saying: “I’ve already apologised and I will do it again in training. I want to say sorry for my reaction after the change – it won’t happen again.
“I don’t have any problem with Xavi or the club, I just wanted to be on the pitch”.
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