Barcelona looking to sell two forwards before Raphinha – Vitor Roque closer to exit

Barcelona Sporting Director Deco has a complicated summer ahead as he tries to improve a side with gaping gaps in their squad, and no certainty on what money he will have to spend. It has led to plenty of talk of sales, but so far Barcelona have shown reluctance to let go of any of their stars.

According to Sport, that includes Raphinha. Deco is reportedly standing int he way of move to Saudi Arabia this summer, with offers in excess of €80m on the table. The Brazilian has made it clear that he does not want to leave the club, but the Catalan daily say that the club have ways of forcing him out. They do not state what those are, but Deco is reluctant to use them.

Part of the reason is that Barcelona will find it ‘difficult’ to sign a replacement of the level they would like even if Raphinha is sold. Deco prefers to hold onto Raphinha for now, although the club prefer the idea of bringing in Nico Williams to replace him.

Nico Williams (Athletic Club): "My future? I'm very happy at Athletic Club. They have given me everything, they bet on me 100%. I'm pretty clear about everything, Athletic is my home, and I'm very happy, but now I focus on EURO 2024. For the rest, I don't know what's going to…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 13, 2024

Deco’s plan is to first explore their options with Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Vitor Roque. Hansi Flick is keen to see him in training before making a call on his future, while the latter is ‘more out than in’ as it stands. His camp prefer a sale to a loan, but it will depend on the offers that come in for him.

On the other hand, Barcelona recently received an offer for Torres from Newcastle United, which is described as insufficient, but it appears Deco would rather sell the Valencian winger than Raphinha. Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski are the only guarantees in the forward line.

If that is the case, Raphinha will have to play on the left for the majority of the time in order to accommodate Lamine Yamal. It was something he did to better effect in the last third of the season, but has commented previously that he prefers to play on the right. It could be a conversation to be had, because if he is to be used mostly on the left, Flick will not want to deal with an unhappy player in October.

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