Posted by After Chelsea stole their deal for Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal has turned its attention to Barcelona and started talking with the agent of winger Raphinha.
Arsenal was close to making a deal with Shakhtar Donetsk to buy Mudryk in a deal worth about £80 million.
After Gabriel Jesus got hurt and couldn’t play for a while, Arsenal wanted to add new legs to their attacking line and thought Mudryk would be a good choice.
But their London rivals Chelsea, who spend a lot of money, waited until the deal was almost done to steal it.
The Blues and Shakhtar Donetsk have agreed to a crazy £97m deal for the 22-year-old.
The Ukraine international reportedly signed a seven-year deal with Chelsea and flew to London on Sunday for a medical.
Since this is the case, Mikel Arteta’s team is now focusing on Barcelona, where they hope to find former Leeds United attacker Raphinha.
The Evening Standard said that the manager of the Gunners, Edu, is in touch with Raphinha’s agent, Deco, who used to play for Chelsea.
Raphinha has only been at Nou Camp for six months, but it is said that the Catalan giants are open to offers for the 26-year-old.
Last summer, Arsenal and Chelsea tried to sign Raphinha from Leeds, but the Brazilian turned them down and signed with Barcelona for about £55 million.
He hasn’t had a great start to life in Spain. In 21 games for the Catalans, he has only scored two goals.