Rafinha has an offer from China but is hoping for a Premier League move

Rafinha has an offer from China but is hoping for a Premier League move

Rafinha entrenó con casco por el vendaval en Vigo / | @rafalcantara

The club is believed to be Shanghai Shenhua and they'll pay 16 million euros, but Rafinha would rather stay in Europe

Rafinha Alcántara's future lies away from FC Barcelona. The midfielder extended his contract last summer before joining Real Betis on loan. Now the plan is to cash in on the Brazilian and there's an offer from Shanghai Shenhua for 16 million euros. However, Rafinha is holding out for a move to the Premier League.

The offer from the Chinese club, which is already negotiating with Barça, is the full asking price. The issue is Rafinha doesn't want to move to China and would rather remain in Europe. 

Everton and Wolves have been previously registered an interest in Rafinha but have yet to back that up with a formal offer. There's a chance he could even join up with his brother in England, Thiago, who has made it clear he won't stay at Bayern and is also looking at a move to the Premier League.

Celta can't afford Rafinha

One team which is already out of the running for Rafinha is Celta Vigo. Last summer, the midfielder had better offers from elsewhere but chose to return to his former club instead. Celta hoped he would continue but their offer wasn't high enough for Barça and they'd also need Rafinha to take a significant pay cut.

Barça are standing firm over the €16m asking price and believe it's fair as they already have an offer from the Chinese Super League. They've set a deadline of two weeks to avoid Rafinha taking part in preseason. It remains to be seen if those Premier League sides will firm up their interest with a bid.

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