Raphinha says he has thought about leaving Barcelona “several times” since joining the club in 2022.
The 27-year-old has scored nine goals for Hansi Flick’s side this season, including a hat-trick in Wednesday’s 4-1 victory at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The Brazil international, who won the league title in his first season with the club in 2022-23, said before the match against Bayern that he felt “disrespected” and “hurt” when he saw Barcelona fans wearing club shirts with his number and the name of Nico Williams — the Athletic Club Bilbao forward who was strongly linked with a move to the Catalan club this summer.
Raphinha admitted it had already “crossed my mind to leave the club” as early as his first season, after joining from Leeds United.
“There was a lot of self doubt,” Raphinha told ESPN. “I have a nasty habit of criticising myself heavily, so to speak, so that pressure made me think about leaving.”
The Brazilian also detailed multiple times since the start of the 2023-24 season — which began with an opening-day red card against Getafe — where he considered a move away from Barcelona.
He said that “seeing a lot of things that the club wanted to sell me, that the fans wanted me to leave, it also ends up crossing your mind to leave, to go somewhere where there’s no pressure”.
Wednesday was Raphinha’s second hat-trick of the campaign, having also scored a treble against Real Valladolid in a 7-0 win earlier this season, while he also scored twice in a 5-1 victory at Villarreal.
Barcelona are back in action on Saturday night with an away El Clasico tie against Real Madrid in La Liga.
(Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
