Rumors surrounding a potential swap deal between FC Barcelona and Manchester City have been quashed, following Rafinha’s confirmation that he is unaware of any pending interest from Man City to bring him to the Etihad.
This comes after it was strongly suggested by several news sources that Man City would be willing to let Eric Garcia depart for Barca in exchange for Rafinha joining the Premier League club.
These rumors began in August when Man City manager Pep Guardiola revealed that Garcia did not want to sign a new contract with the Premier League giants. The defender’s current deal is due to expire at the end of the season.
Rafinha is in a similar predicament to Garcia, with his contract due to expire at the end of the 2020-21 campaign as well. While several clubs have expressed interest in signing Rafinha, none of them have come close to offering the Balugranes’ asking price of $19 million.
One of the interested clubs was Celta Vigo, the team for whom Rafinha scored four goals in 29 La Liga appearances while on loan last season.
In addition to Celta Vigo, Rafinha also spent time on loan at Serie A giants Inter Milan in 2018, making 17 appearances and scoring twice.
