Former Barcelona director reveals why club decided to sign Raphinha ahead of ex-Manchester United star Antony in 2022

Former Barcelona sporting director Jordi Cruyff has revealed that the club opted to sign Raphinha over Manchester United's Antony due to financial constraints. The former Leeds United star's performances in the Premier League also played a key role, as they trusted him more than the winger who was doing well at Ajax.

Speaking on Stick To Football, Cruyff said they were undecided between Raphinha and Antony for a long time, but opted to sign the former as he was doing well in England, and they were confident of selling him back to a Premier League side if he failed in Spain. He said (via Barca Universal):

“I remember there was a moment we wanted a winger, and we had to choose between Raphinha and Antony. And when you have a fair play issue, of course, Antony in the end went for much more money than anybody expected.”

"But we really had to make choices based on, ‘Okay, if he succeeds in the Premier League and things go wrong, we’ll always get our money back.’ We looked at both [Antony and Raphinha], basically.”

He added that they liked Antony, but were unwilling to take a risk and said:

“But Antony, we liked [him] because it’s a Spanish [thing]. I mean, now he’s in Betis, and he is doing a really good job – like, he’s a special player. But back then, we were thinking if we signed a player from Holland and things went wrong, you would never get your money back."

Barcelona beat Chelsea to sign Raphinha for £55 million, after the Blues had a deal in place to bring the winger to Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona have no obligation to sign Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford

Barcelona have signed Marcus Rashford on loan for the season, but the Manchester United star has his future hanging in the balance. Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Catalan side have not made a decision, nor do they have an obligation to sign him at the end of the season. He said on his YouTube channel:

“For Marcus Rashford, there’s no obligation to buy, it’s a loan with a buy option for €30 million. This is the fee in case Barcelona decide to sign Rashford in the summer of 2026. Rashford isn’t even thinking about a United return from the loan or maybe making it again at Man United one day.

"The full focus is on Barca. The feeling internally at Barcelona is positive with the behaviour of Marcus Rashford, not just the performances. I think they’re is a very good chance to see Barcelona and Rashford continue in the future, but it will depend on several factors.”

Marcus Rashford has been out on loan since January 2025, when he joined Aston Villa after falling out of favor with Ruben Amorim.