Barcelona Relieved as Al-Hilal Targets Salah Instead of Raphinha

Barcelona have been given a rare slice of good news in a summer dominated by financial tension and transfer noise: the immediate threat of losing Raphinha to Saudi Arabia has eased, at least for now.

The Brazilian winger has been one of the most coveted names on Al-Hilal’s radar, with the Saudi Pro League side circling for months and preparing a huge financial package to tempt him away from Spotify Camp Nou. For Barcelona, already juggling a delicate economic situation, the prospect of a massive offer for a key attacker felt both like danger and temptation rolled into one.

Now the storm has moved elsewhere.

Salah becomes the headline act

According to SPORT, Al-Hilal have shifted their focus decisively towards Mohamed Salah, making the Liverpool forward their priority target. The club have reportedly put forward an ambitious proposal: a three-year contract with an option for a fourth season and a net salary of €20 million per year.

That figure mirrors the financial package believed to have been lined up for Raphinha, underlining just how serious the Saudis are about landing another global star. The money is on the table. The spotlight, though, is no longer fixed solely on Barcelona’s No. 11.

Raphinha remains on Al-Hilal’s shortlist. He has been there for months and, by all accounts, would still be welcomed with open arms. But he is no longer the first name on the list. Salah now sits at the top.

For Barcelona, that subtle shift in hierarchy changes everything.

From summer siege to breathing space

This is not the first time Al-Hilal have tried to prise Raphinha out of Catalonia. The first major push came in the summer of 2024, just after Hansi Flick walked through the door at Barça.

Back then, the Saudi club launched an extraordinary bid: a three-year deal worth €100 million net. The scale of the offer forced Raphinha to look hard at his future. He later admitted as much, acknowledging that the numbers made him stop and think.

Barcelona feared a repeat this summer. Recent reports suggested the Brazilian had asked Al-Hilal to pick up talks again once his World Cup duties with Brazil were over. The script seemed written: another wave of Saudi money, another battle to keep a key player, another test of Barça’s resolve.

Instead, the narrative has twisted. With Al-Hilal now concentrating their efforts and resources on Salah, the immediate pressure around Raphinha has eased. He is still admired, still monitored, still an option. But no longer the obsession.

Raphinha’s fight is elsewhere

While his name bounces around the transfer columns, Raphinha’s reality is far more straightforward: he is in the gym, on the training pitch, and in the treatment room.

The winger is locked into an intensive rehabilitation programme, three sessions a day, as he races the clock to return in time for a potential World Cup quarter-final on July 5. That scenario depends on Brazil navigating their next knockout tie, but his focus is clear. His battle is physical, not contractual.

For Flick and Barcelona, that mindset matters. Raphinha is one of the German coach’s most important attacking pieces, a wide player who brings aggression, work rate and end product. Losing him now, with a new project still bedding in, would have ripped a hole in the structure Flick is trying to build.

Instead, the club can, for the moment, step back from the brink. The spectre of an imminent Saudi raid has faded. The decision-making around Raphinha’s future no longer feels like a countdown.

Al-Hilal’s gaze is now fixed on Salah. How long it stays there will shape not just Liverpool’s summer, but Barcelona’s as well.