Barcelona’s Raphinha Gains Breather as Al-Hilal Pursues Salah
Barcelona have been given an unexpected breather in their battle to keep Raphinha, and it has arrived from an unlikely source: Al-Hilal’s obsession with Mohamed Salah.
For weeks, the Brazilian winger has lived in the eye of a transfer storm, heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and the kind of contract that forces even the most committed player to pause and think. Now, the noise around him has dipped, not because interest has cooled, but because Al-Hilal have found an even bigger prize to chase.
Al-Hilal change target
The Saudi Pro League giants have tracked Raphinha for months and were widely expected to step up their pursuit after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He has been on their shortlist, a marquee name for a project built on spectacle and star power.
But the landscape has shifted. According to SPORT, Al-Hilal have intensified their push to sign Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, elevating the Egyptian to the top of their attacking wishlist and pushing Raphinha down the order.
It is not a half-hearted courtship. The Saudi club have put a bold proposal on the table for Salah: a three-year contract, with an option for a fourth, and a net salary of €20 million per season. That figure mirrors the package believed to have been prepared for Raphinha, underlining just how serious Al-Hilal are about landing a global superstar.
As their attention tilts towards Anfield, Barcelona can finally exhale, at least a little.
Raphinha’s focus: recovery, not Riyadh
Raphinha has not disappeared from Al-Hilal’s radar. Far from it. Reports recently suggested he had asked the club to pick up discussions once his World Cup commitments with Brazil were over, a clear sign that the Saudi proposal had his attention.
Right now, though, his world is much smaller: a treatment room, a pitch, and three gruelling training sessions a day.
The winger is in the middle of an intensive rehabilitation programme, racing against the clock to be fit for a potential World Cup quarter-final on July 5, should Brazil navigate their upcoming knockout tie. Every session is geared toward that date. Every decision is about being ready for his country.
For Barcelona, that singular focus is welcome. It keeps the transfer saga at arm’s length and buys Hansi Flick time.
A familiar threat, dulled for now
This is not the first time Al-Hilal have tried to prise Raphinha away from Catalonia. In the summer of 2024, shortly after Flick walked through the doors at Barcelona, the Saudi club arrived with an extraordinary offer: a three-year contract worth €100 million net.
Raphinha later admitted that proposal made him seriously reflect on his future. It was the sort of deal that can flip a career overnight, and Barcelona knew it.
The difference this time is the direction of Al-Hilal’s firepower. With Salah now their primary target and resources concentrated on one of the most marketable forwards in world football, the immediate pressure around Raphinha’s future has eased.
He remains an attractive option for the Saudis, a high-level alternative if their pursuit of Salah stalls. But he is no longer the first name on their list.
For Barcelona, that subtle shift could be decisive. In a summer shaped by tight finances and difficult choices, keeping one of Flick’s most important attackers might depend not on their own negotiating power, but on whether Al-Hilal manage to pull Salah out of Liverpool.
