Bayern Munich’s Rafinha has revealed he has been approached by – and rejected – Premier League teams in the past, with suggestions it may have been Arsenal that he snubbed, according to the Daily Star.
The Brazilian right-back was a reported target of ours a couple of seasons ago (via the Star), with Arsene Wenger keen to find an experienced replacement for Bacary Sagna – who eventually joined Manchester City.
Rafinha may have been one of his first choices, but the Frenchman eventually signed Mathieu Debuchy to replace his compatriot.
The 30-year-old Bundesliga full-back heaped praise on the Premier League, but suggested he planned to remain with the German giants for the remainder of his contract.
“The Premier League is a top league,” he told InsideFutbol (via the Star).
“But I have two more years at Bayern and I plan to stay here for at least this period.
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“My agent has told me that he has been approached by some English clubs.
“But I decided to renew my contract with Bayern and those English clubs went away.”
Wenger’s decision to sign Debuchy worked out superbly in the end, as it has seen the rise of Hector Bellerin at the club. Although not by design of course, the French full-back suffered a number of long-term injuries during his first season. This gave the Spaniard the opening he needed to break into the starting XI, and Debuchy hasn’t been able to displace him since.
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Rafinha obviously would have been a superb signing, but there won’t be too many fans losing sleep over the fact we missed out on him.
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