“Bild”: Raphinha Deal With 96 Failed In 2018 Due To Kind’s Veto – Half A Million Was Missing

Today’s Barcelona star

Raphinha is one of the best offensive players in the world, one of the most important players at FC Barcelona under Hansi Flick, a place in the Brazilian national team and, in terms of goal participation among all players from Europe’s top 5 leagues in 2024/25, only surpassed by Bayern’s Harry Kane (31). (for statistics). But his development could almost have been completely different: in 2018, the now 27-year-old winger moved from his first station in Europe, Vitória Guimarães SC, to Sporting Clube within Portugal. According to “Bild”, the Lisboners wouldn’t even have been Raphinha’s first choice. He had already agreed with Hannover 96.

Horst Heldt (now Union Berlin) was the sports director of Niedersachsen 96 in the last Bundesliga season to date. In the summer of 2018, he signed, among others, Sechser Walace (now 29; HSV) and the attackers Genki Haraguchi (33; Hertha), Bobby Wood (31; HSV) and Takuma Asano (29; Arsenal). Total expenditure in Hanover at that time: 18.5 million euros. According to the newspaper, Heldt offered 6 million euros for Raphinha, but Vitória demanded 6.5 million euros. 96 boss Martin Kind did not want to release the additional 500,000 euros needed for the top talent at the time.

Sporting struck against it and sold Raphinha to Stade Rennes a year later for a huge profit for 21 million euros. Another year later, the Brazilian went to Leeds United for 18.6 million euros and finally to Barcelona in 2022 for 58 million euros. Hannover, on the other hand, decided not to make Raphinha the second most expensive addition in the club’s history to date. In the summer of 2019, the Reds moved to the 2nd Bundesliga, where they remain to this day.

In the long history of football, there have always been cases of players who, for a variety of reasons, did not end up at their dream club. Or clubs that missed out on a later world star. Or within a hair’s breadth of change that didn’t happen for other reasons. Transfermarkt covers these in the ongoing series of “almost transfers”.