Barcelona Relieved as Al-Hilal Targets Salah Instead of Raphinha

Barcelona’s battle to keep Raphinha has taken a welcome twist. The threat hasn’t vanished, but it has shifted — 3,000 kilometres northwest, towards Anfield.

According to SPORT, Al-Hilal have turned their full attention to Mohamed Salah, elevating the Liverpool star to the top of their summer wishlist and easing, at least for now, the pressure around one of Hansi Flick’s key forwards.

From top target to Plan B

For months, Raphinha has lived with the noise. A lucrative escape route to Saudi Arabia. A project built around him. A contract that would dwarf anything Barcelona can realistically offer in their current financial state.

Al-Hilal’s interest is not new. In the summer of 2024, shortly after Flick walked through the doors at Barcelona, the Saudi club launched an audacious bid to prise the Brazilian away. The figures were staggering: a three-year deal worth around €100 million net. Raphinha later admitted the offer made him stop and think about his future.

He stayed. Flick made it clear he was central to his plans, and Barcelona, still rebuilding their identity, could ill afford to lose a winger capable of changing games on his own.

This summer, the script threatened to repeat itself. Raphinha again appeared on Al-Hilal’s radar, with talk of another huge financial package and a renewed push after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Reports even suggested the player had asked the Saudi side to pick up negotiations once his duties with Brazil at the tournament were done.

Then came the twist. Salah.

A Saudi giant goes all-in on a Liverpool icon

Al-Hilal, one of the dominant forces in the Saudi Pro League, have now tabled a bold proposal for Mohamed Salah. The package is clear: a three-year contract with an option for a fourth, and a net salary of €20 million per year — mirroring the financial framework they were believed to have lined up for Raphinha.

The message is just as clear: Salah has become the priority.

Raphinha remains on their shortlist, still seen as a high-level option if circumstances change or if the Salah pursuit collapses. But he is no longer the first name on the board. For Barcelona, that distinction matters.

The Catalan club had been braced for another heavy Saudi push, particularly given their own financial constraints and the ever-present temptation such contracts represent for players in their prime. Now, with Al-Hilal channelling their resources towards Liverpool’s talisman, the immediate danger of losing Raphinha has eased.

Not disappeared. But eased.

Raphinha’s focus: treatment table, not transfer table

While the market swirls around him, Raphinha’s day-to-day reality is far more basic: rehab, repetition, and a race against time.

The winger is currently immersed in an intensive recovery programme, working through three training sessions a day as he battles to be fit for a potential World Cup quarter-final on July 5, if Brazil make it that far. Every drill, every sprint, every gym session is geared towards that date.

For now, the World Cup — and his body — come before any decision on his future.

Inside Barcelona, that commitment has not gone unnoticed. Flick views him as one of the most important attacking pieces in his squad, a wide player who can stretch defences, press aggressively, and deliver in big moments. Losing him, especially under financial pressure and before the team has fully settled under the German coach, would be a major blow.

So this shift in Saudi strategy lands like a small victory in a summer of uncertainty.

Barcelona’s relief, with a warning attached

The club have been here before. They know Saudi interest rarely dies; it simply pauses or changes shape. Al-Hilal’s admiration for Raphinha has not evaporated. It has been parked, downgraded from “must-have” to “if the door opens.”

That nuance matters in a market where money talks loudly and often. The Brazilian remains an attractive option to the Saudi side, a proven European winger who fits the profile they have chased over the past two years.

But right now, the spotlight is on Salah. The numbers, the focus, the pressure — all of it is being directed towards Liverpool and their Egyptian icon.

Barcelona, for once, are not at the centre of that storm. The question is how long that calm will last.