Xavi: 'Raphinha is the future of Barcelona'

La Blaugrana fended off competition from the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to bring Raphinha to the club last summer, paying £51.5m for his services.

Raphinha has come up with a respectable five goals and seven assists from 28 games in his debut season at Barcelona, with his latest strike coming in Wednesday's 2-1 La Liga win over Real Betis.

However, the ex-Rennes attacker was understood to have been the subject of renewed interest from Arsenal in the January transfer window after the Gunners lost out to Chelsea in the race for Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Manchester United were also rumoured to have been considering a deadline day swoop for the Brazil international, who is under contract at Camp Nou for another four and a half years.

As a result, Barcelona were under no pressure to let Raphinha go and are believed to have demanded a €100m (£88.9m) package to let the 26-year-old depart after only half a season.

With the transfer deadline now passed, Xavi - who named Raphinha in the starting XI against Betis - affirmed that he wants to see the South American remain in Catalonia for years to come.

"Raphinha was good, not only for his goal, but also with his defensive work," Xavi said in his post-game press conference. "He's a criticised player, but he does a lot and we value him a lot. We will always support Raphinha — he's the future of Barcelona."

Raphinha's start against Real Betis was only his 10th of the season in La Liga, and he only came off the bench in La Blaugrana's Supercopa de Espana final win over Real Madrid last month.

The Brazilian was also given just a 12-minute cameo in Barca's 1-0 Copa del Rey quarter-final win over Real Sociedad, with numerous attackers jostling for starts in Xavi's well-stocked ranks.

Memphis Depay has now completed a permanent move to Atletico Madrid, but Gavi, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele are all fighting for the right to support Robert Lewandowski in the final third.

However, Dembele is currently sidelined with a thigh injury, which could keep the Frenchman out for up to a month, opening the door for Raphinha to potentially make regular starts on the right-hand side.

Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona at Real Betis before Lewandowski put La Blaugrana two goals to the good on the 80-minute mark, and Xavi's men held on for victory despite Jules Kounde's late own goal.

Barcelona now hold an eight-point lead over Real Madrid, who play their game in hand against Valencia this evening, at the top of the La Liga table, and they are next in action at home to Sevilla on Sunday night.