Barcelona Relieved as Al-Hilal Pursues Salah Instead of Raphinha
Barcelona have been handed the kind of break sporting directors secretly pray for: a superclub with bottomless money has, at least for now, decided to chase someone else.
For weeks, the noise around Raphinha has been relentless. A lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League, a life‑changing contract, and the sense that one of Hansi Flick’s most reliable wide threats could be prised away before his project has really started. Al-Hilal, long-term admirers of the Brazilian, were expected to circle again after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Now the picture has shifted.
Al-Hilal change lanes: Salah at the front of the queue
According to SPORT, Al-Hilal have intensified their push to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool, elevating the Egyptian to the top of their attacking wishlist and easing the immediate pressure on Barcelona.
Raphinha’s name has not disappeared from their shortlist. It has simply been pushed down it.
The Saudi club have reportedly put a bold proposal on the table for Salah: a three-year deal with an option for a fourth and a net salary of €20 million per season. It is the same financial level believed to have been prepared for Raphinha, underlining just how serious Al-Hilal’s pursuit of elite forwards has become.
The numbers are staggering, even in the current market. But the key detail for Barcelona is simple: the spotlight, and the money, now seem to be aimed at Anfield rather than at Spotify Camp Nou.
Raphinha’s focus: rehab, not rumours
Amid all this, Raphinha’s reality is far more prosaic. While his name bounces around in transfer reports, his days are built around recovery and repetition.
The winger is currently locked into an intensive rehabilitation programme, working through three training sessions a day as he races to be fit in time for a potential World Cup quarter-final on July 5 – assuming Brazil clear their next knockout hurdle.
Recent reports suggested that Raphinha had asked Al-Hilal to revisit discussions once his World Cup duties with Brazil were over. That request underlined that the Saudi option was real, not fantasy. But for now his attention, by all accounts, is fixed on his body, not his bank balance.
Inside Barcelona, that matters. A fully committed, fully fit Raphinha remains a central piece for Flick, who values his work rate without the ball as much as his delivery with it.
A reminder of how close Barcelona came
This is not the first time Al-Hilal have tried to drag Raphinha out of Catalonia with an offer too big to ignore.
In the summer of 2024, shortly after Hansi Flick took charge, the Saudi side made an extraordinary attempt to tempt him away from La Liga. Reports at the time spoke of a three-year contract worth €100 million net. The scale of that proposal forced Raphinha to look hard at his future, and he later admitted it made him think.
Barcelona survived that push. They might now be surviving the second one not through their own resistance, but because Al-Hilal’s gaze has shifted towards Salah.
For the Catalan club, the effect is the same. The immediate threat of losing one of Flick’s most important attackers has eased. Raphinha is still admired in Riyadh, still seen as a serious option, but no longer appears to be the first name on Al-Hilal’s list.
In a summer shaped by financial constraints and delicate squad planning, that small change in someone else’s priorities could end up being one of Barcelona’s most important victories.
