Raphinha of Barcelona could be a Man United target under Xavi (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Former Barcelona manager Xavi has reportedly requested the potential transfer of Brazilian winger Raphinha from his old club if he is to replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.
The 27-year-old has been a star player for Barca so far this season, producing some of his best football since moving to the Nou Camp, which perhaps doesn’t reflect too well on Xavi himself, as he left the job to be replaced by Hansi Flick this summer.
Still, it seems Xavi is keen to sign Raphinha for Man Utd if he ends up taking over at Old Trafford, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.
The report states that bringing in Raphinha for the Red Devils is a key request as he weighs up whether or not to take the job, which he has reportedly been approached over, according to the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, another report from Fichajes claims that Barcelona could ask for as much as €100m for Raphinha, so this is surely not going to be an easy deal for United to deliver for Xavi.
Manchester United to land Xavi and Raphinha?
Things could get very exciting for United fans soon if they really do end up making a change in manager, whilst also adding a world class attacking player to replace flops like Antony in that area of the pitch.
Still, MUFC supporters perhaps shouldn’t get too ahead of themselves as Ten Hag still seems fairly safe in his job, with no change seeming imminent despite so much speculation.
It may be that just one or two more bad results will be enough to convince United to pull the trigger, though, and in that case Xavi could prove to be an upgrade.
And if the Spanish tactician is also able to bring in a player like Raphinha to work with, that could do a lot to improve this team’s dire results and performances.
