Although one of its most important components, Robert Lewandowski, will be unavailable, FC Barcelona will once again be looking towards its forward line to get the job done against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final tomorrow on Saturday.
In Lewandowski’s absence, a lot of responsibility will lie on Raphinha, as he is the captain and the most experienced player in this forward line.
Furthermore, he is also the most in-form player for the Blaugranes, as he has accumulated 30 goals and 23 assists so far this season, and is being seen as one of the top candidates to win the Ballon d’Or.
His current contract with the Catalan side goes till 2027, but keeping in view the excellent season he is having, Barcelona have already offered him a renewal to ensure his continuity in the team.
Raphinha himself wants to continue at Barcelona, but still, SPORT reports that there are significant differences between the two parties at this point in time, and these differences are related to some of the core aspects of the new contract, i.e., its duration and the wages that the player will get.
Regarding the duration of the contract, the Blaugranes are looking to add two more years to his contract, but these two years will be in the form of one plus one, i.e., the second year will be dependent on his performance and the club’s agreement. However, Raphinha wants an extension of two years fixed.
Similarly, the Brazilian star is not happy with the wages offered to him by the Catalan club, and his agents are pushing Barcelona to improve their offer.
One aspect on which both sides agree is that of a release clause, as they both want it to be quite low, and a figure of around €80 million is expected to be his release clause with this new contract.
For now, these negotiations are only in a very early phase, but Barcelona do not want these differences to become entrenched, and thus have already started working on this operation with two years still remaining on Raphinha’s contract.
