"Raphinha close to signing for Aston Villa"

According to The Mirror, Barcelona forward Raphinha is close to a move to Aston Villa. It is understood that the former Leeds United man is not considered a key player by new boss Hansi Flick.

The tweet above translates as 'Straight to England! According to The Mirror, Raphinha is close to signing for Aston Villa. The FC Barcelona attacker is not considered by Hansi Flick and in search of more opportunities he would reach the Villans'.

The rumour around Raphinha is a difficult one to believe when it is more likely that Aston Villa will be attempting to sign Nico Williams, who is a prime target for Barcelona. Signing Raphinha would likely mean paying Barcelona a fee in the region £45-50 million which is close to the fee needed to buy Williams. Therefore by paying the money for Raphinha would give Barcelona the incentive to sign Williams whereas at the moment it is understood a deal at Barcelona for Williams may be unlikely due to financial difficulties at the club.

Raphinha scored 10 goals and produced 13 assists across all competitions for Barcelona last season with all three of his Champions League goals last season coming in the quarter-finals against Paris Saint Germain. Raphinha only managed 11 starts in La Liga last season however due to the favouring to start the likes of Joao Felix, another man linked with Villa, Ferran Torres and wonderkid Yamine Lamal.

However, if Villa were to look at striking a deal for Raphinha then they would be signing a player with Champions League and Premier League experience. With 17 goals and 12 assists in his 65 Premier League appearances for Leeds United Raphinha would bring a high level of experience and quality that would no doubt help the raise the level of the Villa squad.

However, as mentioned previously I believe that this rumour is unlikely to gather any momentum due to Villa having a greater interest in other targets.

UTV