Sports

Raphinha Completes ‘Dream’ £55m Move To Barcelona

Barcelona on Friday confirmed the signing of Brazilian forward Raphinha from Leeds United on an initial £49m deal that could rise to £55m in add-ons.

Raphinha was in a protracted transfer saga that also involved Arsenal and Chelsea but ultimately wanted to play for Barcelona.

Two weeks ago, Chelsea were thought to have hijacked Arsenal’s bid for the winger when they submitted a counter bid of £55m.

Former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Deco is Raphinha’s agent and the eventual destination of Raphinha became shrouded in controversy.

The protracted transfer triangle is over and Raphinha has spoken of his excitement signing for the Blaugrana.

“It’s a dream come true since I was a kid, and my family going to give my best.”

Raphinha was only interested in the move to Barcelona and according to reports in the UK with Chelsea his second choice. Arsenal was only a third option.

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.