Pep Guardiola Returns to the Charge with €80M, Barça Reacts: 'His Value Is €1 Billion'

Manchester City's season could be joined by the adjective "bleak." Pep Guardiola's team is out of the race for the Premier League and has already been eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the Champions League. However, they are only still alive in the FA Cup and the new Club World Cup, which will be held between June and July.

It is evident, then, that Pep Guardiola's squad urgently needs a revolution in their locker room. Several players have significantly dropped their level, and the vast majority of signings have not performed as expected. Therefore, a huge investment is expected in the upcoming summer market, with signings in each and every line.

For example, Manchester City has missed a great offensive reference this season. Erling Haaland has been very alone in the attacking line and has not been able to count on an ally at the same level in the final third of the field. In fact, several media outlets are already considering that City will look to offload Grealish, for whom they not long ago went all out.

In this context, the English outlet CaughtOffside has asserted that Pep Guardiola's desire for the next season plays at Barça. The truth is that his numbers confirm Manchester City's interest: 27 goals and 20 assists in 43 matches. As it could not be otherwise, we are talking about Raphinha.

Raphinha Appeals to Pep Guardiola for Manchester City

The aforementioned outlet believes that Pep Guardiola's team intends to propose an offer of about 80 million euros to Barça for Raphinha. However, at first glance, and considering his great level, it seems almost laughable. Joan Laporta is not willing to let his current star go for that amount, especially after knowing that his clause sets his release price at 1 billion.

For now, Raphinha is comfortable in the City of Barcelona and it doesn't seem that any proposal could appear that, on a sporting level, would persuade him to stop playing at Barça. Raphinha is also one of the captains of the squad and is showing the best version of his entire career. Meanwhile, in the Catalan capital, he can compete for absolutely all titles.

For Hansi Flick, he is undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of his project. While Lamine Yamal has established himself as the great promise and Lewandowski as the scorer, Raphinha is the backbone of the attack. That differential and consistent player is so hard to find, and that's why Manchester City wants to bet so heavily on his signing.