Barcelona confirm Nelson Semedo will wear Rafinha’s No. 12 jersey amid midfielder’s links with Arsenal, according to reports.
The Portuguese was signed from his principality club Benfica last week as the Catalan giants new right-back and is so far the only signing made by Barca.
The La Liga giants confirmed the squad numbers their players will wear for the coming pre-season trip to America, and while there are no big number changes, Semedo’s shirt was revealed to be the No. 12.
Barca fans will recall that Rafinha wore that shirt number last season for the La Liga club but it appears the Brazilian has had his shirt number taken from him.
Furthermore, Rafinha’s absence from their squad appears to confirm recent reports that he has been offered the chance to move to Arsenal, and that deal is set to happen.
The 24-year-old’s move to the Emirates now seems a real possibility with new Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde appearing to be not keen on the Brazilian.
Last season, Rafinha notched 17 appearances in the Spanish La Liga while also featuring in the Champions League six times for Barcelona.
Rafinha per Squawka, has a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 with a Performance Score of 470. The Brazilian best appearance of the season was Barcelona against Deportivo La Coruña where he bagged a Performance Score of 86. The 24-year-old worst game in the same season was against Atletic Club where he earned a score of -8.
Rafinha, in the Spanish La Liga, has scored six goals this season, creating 14 chances and two assists. Rafinha has completed 470 passes this season with a pass accuracy of 92%, of which 46% were forward passes.
With the likes of Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, and Mohammed Elneny in Arsenal midfield, it’s difficult to see where the Brazilian will fit into.
*Players stats were according to Squawka.
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