Barcelona Relieved as Al-Hilal Focuses on Salah, Not Raphinha

For weeks, Barcelona have lived with the uncomfortable idea that one of Hansi Flick’s key wide men could be prised away by Saudi money. Now, at least for the moment, the storm clouds are thinning.

Raphinha, heavily linked with a move to Al-Hilal, appears to have been pushed down the Saudi club’s wishlist as they launch a full-scale assault for Mohamed Salah.

Salah becomes the headline act

Al-Hilal’s admiration for Raphinha is no secret. They have tracked him for months and were widely expected to come back for him with force after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The script has changed.

According to SPORT, the Saudi Pro League powerhouse have intensified their pursuit of the Liverpool forward, making Salah their primary objective. The club have reportedly put a bold proposal on the table: a three-year contract with an option for a fourth and a net salary of €20 million per season.

That figure mirrors the package they were believed to have prepared for Raphinha. The money is the same. The name at the top of the list is not.

For Barcelona, that shift matters. With Al-Hilal’s resources now concentrated on Salah, the immediate threat of losing Raphinha has eased, at least in this window.

Raphinha’s focus: recovery, not relocation

The Brazilian has not disappeared from Al-Hilal’s radar. He remains on their shortlist and, as recent reports suggested, had asked the club to revisit talks once his World Cup duties with Brazil were complete.

Those duties are on hold for a different reason.

Right now, Raphinha is locked into an intensive rehabilitation programme, working through three training sessions a day as he races to be fit in time for a potential World Cup quarter-final on July 5. That scenario depends on Brazil navigating their next knockout tie, but his priority is clear: get back on the pitch, not negotiate an exit.

At Barcelona, that single-minded focus on recovery is a welcome contrast to last summer’s uncertainty.

Echoes of 2024 – but a different outcome

This is not Al-Hilal’s first attempt to turn Raphinha’s head.

In the summer of 2024, shortly after Hansi Flick arrived at Spotify Camp Nou, the Saudi club launched an audacious move. The offer was extraordinary: a three-year deal worth €100 million net. Raphinha later admitted that the proposal forced him to seriously weigh up his future.

The numbers underlined how determined Al-Hilal were to land him. They were prepared to make him one of the best-paid players on the planet.

This time, the landscape feels different. With Salah now the obsession, the temperature around Raphinha’s future has cooled. Barcelona no longer sense the same imminent danger, even if they know the Saudi market rarely gives up on a target for good.

Raphinha remains an attractive option for Al-Hilal. But he is no longer the first name on their list.

For Flick and Barcelona, that subtle change could be the difference between losing a cornerstone of their attack and keeping a winger who still has plenty of unfinished business in Catalonia.