Raphinha rejection opens door for Neymar to Chelsea

James Shearman

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 4 min read

Chelsea's failure to sign Raphinha could pave the way for a shock move for Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar.

Raphinha has always preferred a move to Barcelona, though the Catalan club's financial trouble opened the door for Arsenal and Chelsea to make a move.

FootballTransfers were the first to report The Blues' interest in Raphinha, and have since learned that Leeds accepted a bid worth more than €63 million (£55m).

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Chelsea have also offered Raphinha a five-year deal worth €7m (£6m) net per season, FootballTransfers understands.

The Brazilian, however, has little interest in signing for Thomas Tuchel's side as long as a move to Barcelona is a possibility.

He has even told his agent, former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Deco, to let the Blues know of his desire to go to La Liga, according to Sport.

Now, the Chelsea hierarchy, fronted by American billionaire Todd Boehly, could turn their attentions to Neymar's precarious situation at PSG.

Neymar to Chelsea?

Neymar is ready to leave Paris Saint-Germain, according to ESPN, after learning that the Ligue 1 club are happy to let him go.

The news comes after PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi claimed that the era of “bling-bling” is over at Parc des Princes.

Said era began with the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan in 2012, continued with the incredible double deal to capture Neymar and Kylian Mbappe from Barcelona and Monaco respectively in 2017 and then reprised last summer to sign Lionel Messi.

However, Al Khelaifi has said that PSG’s plan is to become less flashy in the years ahead.

''Maybe we need to change our slogan,'' he told Le Parisien. ''Dream Bigger is good, but today we must above all be realistic. We no longer want flashy or bling-bling.

''My objective for the next few years is to have only Parisian players in our team. There’s so much talent in our region. The best players in our region deserve to play for PSG.''

So, Neymar could be on his way out of the Parisian club, where he has spent five seasons - scoring 100 times in all competitions.

Chelsea are in talks to sign Manchester City star Raheem Sterling, but will want to sign at least one other forward with Romelu Lukaku returning to Inter Milan on loan.

And, what better way for Boehly to signal his intent to compete for major honours than by adding one of football's greatest ever player to the ranks at Stamford Bridge?