Barcelona star Raphinha has spoken of his dreams of emulating Brazilian icon Ronaldinho at the Camp Nou.
Raphinha completed a summer move away from Leeds United, to join the Catalan giants, despite sustained interest from Premier League rivals Chelsea.
The Blues matched Barcelona’s offer for the 25-year-old during the negotiations, with Andrea Radrizzani admitting he was forced into a U-turn over a deal with Chelsea, as Raphinha pushed for Barcelona.
The former Rennes winger confirmed he only wanted to leave Elland Road for Barcelona and he is determined to join the list of superstar Brazilians to play for La Blaugrana.
“I did reject an offer from Chelsea. Because my dream was to wear the Barca shirt”, as per an interview with La Vanguardia.
“I followed them since I was young, since Ronaldinho arrived. I wanted to be a part of that.
“That desire was stronger than any other proposal, no matter how powerful it was financially.
“I knew I might have difficulty to be registered. But I was aware of the effort the club was making and I decided to trust and adapt to the economic conditions that existed.”
Raphinha has impressed in his opening weeks at Barcelona, featuring in all five of their opening La Liga games of the campaign.
After being rested for their first Champions League game of the campaign, a 5-1 home win over Viktoria Plzen, he is expected to start in the midweek trip to Bayern Munich.
