Chelsea transfer news: Blues are still interested in £55m attacker

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Chelsea do still hold an interest in Barcelona forward Raphinha, according to reports.

Raphinha, 26, will be familiar to Premier League audiences after two eye-catching seasons at Elland Road with Leeds United. The Brazil international then completed a £55million (Sky Sports) transfer last summer to Barcelona.

Journalist Simon Phillips has now told GiveMeSport that Chelsea are still interested in Raphinha despite missing out on him last year.

Apparently, there are people at Stamford Bridge who still like the Barcelona winger.

“Yeah, this is one to watch for sure. I was told months ago that Chelsea were still keeping tabs on Raphinha, even after he joined Barcelona. He was fairly close to joining Chelsea at one point before Barcelona came in,” Phillips told GiveMeSport.

“Many at Chelsea still like him. Obviously, he chose Barcelona, they were his dream and he made that pretty clear publicly as well, but Chelsea have still been there.”

Raphinha is enjoying a decent debut season in Barcelona colours, scoring nine goals and making nine assists in 38 games across all competitions so far.

The left-footed wide man possesses all the tricks in the book with his skill. Also, he’s got great pace and directness in his play.

Chelsea fans may be intrigued to hear that the Blues target has previously earned big praise from Thiago Silva, who plays alongside him with the national team.

Speaking to UOL in 2021, Chelsea’s Silva spoke about a rare quality from Raphinha that he doesn’t usually see in Brazil internationals: “The boys showed a quality that I have hardly seen in more than ten years with the Brazilian national team [of newcomers]. It’s really cool to see Raphinha and Antony showing personality.”

Raphinha is still under contract at the Camp Nou until 2027, so we’re not sure if the South American will be moving soon.

Sport claimed in December that Raphinha would assess his Barcelona future at the end of this season.

The attacker has looked much more like himself so far in 2023, though, so will that still be the case in the months ahead?