The good news continues to flow for Barcelona, after they all but secured the LaLiga title on Sunday with a win over Real Madrid in El Clasico. Crucial to their efforts was Raphinha, perhaps the comeback season in Europe this year, who scored a brace.
The Brazilian has been inspired this season, commenting before the game that manager Hansi Flick ‘changed his life’. With 57 goal contributions already this season, he is putting up similar numbers to Lionel Messi overall, and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League, who he matched in terms of goals in a single campaign with 14. It looks as if Raphinha will be sticking around for some time too.
Despite the win over Real Madrid, there’s huge anger within the club about yesterday’s refereeing. Internally, it’s clear that things can’t continue this way, and there’s a clear intention to take action. @tjuanmarti
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 12, 2025
Barcelona close to new contract with Raphinha
The Blaugrana are closing in on a new contract with Raphinha too. That is according to MD, who say that only the details are to be settled before a full agreement is reached. The 28-year-old will extend his contract until 2029, a further two years on top of his current contract. Before the Clasico, Raphinha said in an interview that ‘my renewal’ was next, and it appears things are nearly done, after talks began in March.
Raphinha was keen to stay at Barcelona, and talks were fluid, despite consistent interest from Saudi Arabia. His intention is to head to the 2026 World Cup with Brazil and then reevaluate his future.
An asking price and a first offer below expectations
This news comes despite reports that Raphinha was not particularly impressed with Barcelona’s opening offer. Some within the Barcelona hierarchy were also open to the idea of cashing in on Raphinha this summer, after season which will be tricky to repeat. With their salary limit still a major issue, Barcelona were said to be open to considering offers of €80-90m for him this summer, bearing in mind his resale value will decline significantly over the next couple of years.
