Raphinha Returns to Barcelona: Ready for the New Season
Raphinha is back in Barcelona colours, and back in the grind.
The Brazilian winger reported to FC Barcelona’s pre-season camp at St George’s Park in England earlier today, cutting short the quiet of his summer break to step straight into Hansi Flick’s demanding preparations for the new campaign. No easing in, no gentle reintroduction. Just the hard road back.
The Catalans are building towards their La Liga opener against Elche on 23 August, and the sight of Raphinha walking into camp is a clear lift for a squad that knows exactly what he can be when fully fit: a match-winner, a system on his own, a problem for any full-back in Europe.
Back from a bruising World Cup
He returns, though, with scars from a difficult FIFA World Cup with Brazil.
Raphinha started the first two group games, only for the tournament to unravel for him in the 39th minute of the second match against Haiti, when a thigh injury to his right leg forced him off. His World Cup ended there. Brazil’s did not last much longer, crashing out to Norway in the round of 16.
For a player who had arrived on the global stage in explosive form, it was a bitterly abrupt stop. Barcelona, however, are convinced the physical damage has healed and expect him to be fully recovered and ready to work from day one in England.
Ready to work does not mean ready to play.
No rush back into friendlies
Journalist Nil Sola reports that, as things stand, Raphinha is unlikely to feature in Barcelona’s first two pre-season friendlies: Birmingham City on 31 July and Preston North End on 3 August.
He has only just rejoined the group. Flick and his staff know the temptation: throw him in, let him feel the ball, give supporters a glimpse. They also know the cost of rushing a player whose recent seasons have been punctured by muscle problems.
So the plan is patience. Training now, minutes later.
Flick wants his Ballon d’Or contender again
Make no mistake: this is not just another returning winger. Flick wants back the Raphinha who, in the 2024–25 season, played at a level that had his name whispered among Ballon d’Or contenders.
Under Flick’s guidance in that first season together, Raphinha delivered the finest campaign of his career. The numbers were staggering: 34 goals and 26 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions. Beyond the statistics, Barcelona looked sharper, more aggressive, and far more dangerous with him on the pitch. The press bit harder. Transitions snapped. Games tilted.
Last season told a different story.
Hamstring injuries struck twice and cut deep into his rhythm. He still managed 21 goals in 33 appearances, a return many forwards would celebrate, but the volume of minutes, the continuity, the constant threat that defined his peak year were missing. Barcelona lost not just a scorer, but a trigger for their entire attacking structure.
That is what Flick wants back. That is what Raphinha wants back.
A tailored route to the top
To get there, the club has decided not to leave anything to chance.
Benjamin Kugel, Barcelona’s new head of physical preparation, has drawn up an individual fitness programme designed specifically for Raphinha. Not a generic pre-season plan, but a tailored route aimed at protecting his hamstrings, sharpening his explosiveness, and stretching his availability across the entire campaign.
The goal is simple and ruthless: keep him on the pitch. If he stays there, the rest tends to follow.
For Raphinha, this pre-season in the calm surroundings of St George’s Park is more than a warm-up. It is the starting line of a personal reset: from an injury-hit World Cup and a fragmented club season to the standard that once made him one of Europe’s most influential attackers.
Barcelona know what their attack looks like when that version of Raphinha is flying. The question now is not whether he still has that level in him.
It is how quickly he can drag himself back to it.
