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Manchester City have picked out Barcelona and Brazil attacker Raphinha as their ‘priority’ target if Riyad Mahrez leaves for Saudi Arabia.
Raphinha made a big impact for Leeds United during his time in the Premier League between 2020 and 2022. He grabbed 17 goals and 12 assists for the West Yorkshire side prior to his move to Barcelona.
Arsenal and Chelsea were interested in the winger last summer but he ended up securing himself a dream move to the La Liga giants.
The Brazil international enjoyed a pretty successful debut season for the La Liga champions as he was involved in 22 goals across all competitions.
Despite this, Raphinha is being linked with a move back to the Premier League, with Arsenal and Newcastle United being mentioned as potential destinations for the €80m-rated attacker.
Man City may be forced into the market for a new winger as Mahrez is being targeted by Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli.
The treble-winners want around £30m for the Algeria international, who has reportedly already ‘agreed’ a two-year deal (worth £43m) with Al Ahli.
Foot Mercato’s Santi Aouna are now reporting that Raphinha is a ‘top target for City if Mahrez leaves the club’ and their ‘interest is concrete’.
Raphinha is described as the ‘priority’ for the Premier League champions, with ‘inital contacts’ already being made between ‘City sporting director Txiki Begiristain and Barcelona director Deco’.
Barcelona are reportedly ‘ready to listen to offers’ for Raphinha, who is also being targeted by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal and Chelsea.
Raphinh has indicated that he ‘wants to continue’ at Barcelona but he will ‘study’ his situation ‘a little more if City actually goes on the offensive’.
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are potential “internal” solutions for Man City if Mahrez leaves.
“They are looking at the market now but internally this can be sorted – at least for the time being. One option to think about is the use of Phil Foden and the implications of this around him,” Jones told.
“It had been looking like he might drop further back if they lost Bernardo Silva as well as Gundogan but of course, this could in turn give him the chance for more runouts in the front line. At the moment you would look at that squad and just see that Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and Foden makes a lot of sense. There is a lot to think about for Guardiola.
“City had also been opening up to the idea of Cole Palmer going out on loan and there had been varying degrees of interest around that, particularly from teams in England and Germany.
“But this Mahrez situation will also force City to think about their use of him in the squad and he might be elevated, at least while they address this.”
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