Fabrizio Romano brands rumoured Man Utd transfer ‘unrealistic’

Fabrizio Romano has explained why a rumoured Manchester United move for a genuine Ballon d’Or contender is ‘”unrealistic”, and part of the reason relates to a different deal beginning to take shape instead.

A big summer is on the horizon at Man Utd, though how ambitious the club can be will hinge on winning the Europa League. Lifting that competition would secure entry into next year’s Champions League and per The Daily Mail, generate up to £100m in extra income.

Accordingly, Man Utd have already begun to temper their expectations in the transfer market, with Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap emerging as their No 1 striker target.

Delap is a fine player in his own right and per The Athletic, half of the Premier League are courting the frontman.

But at £30m via a relegation release clause, Delap will cost far less than strikers United were initially linked with earlier in 2025, like Benjamin Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen.

It could be a similar story for the two spots behind the striker, with Fabrizio Romano dismissing recent speculation linking Man Utd to Raphinha.

The Barcelona and Brazil ace, 28, is enjoying a career year with 50 goal contributions (28 goals, 22 assists) to his name so far.

Raphinha is among the frontrunners to win the Ballon d’Or and with Barcelona chasing a quadruple and team honours always factoring in, the attacker may well win it.

Links with a move to Old Trafford have surfaced, though speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano explained why United fans should not get their hopes up.

“Let me clarify one thing,” began Romano. “Raphinha is more than happy at Barcelona. He’s having an incredible season, so that’s absolutely the case.

“Raphinha is in initial conversations with Barcelona over a new deal. There was some contact, like ‘okay, let’s discuss the contract, let’s see what can happen over the next months.’

“It’s not something that is being agreed or closed now, but an initial approach to eventually discuss a new contract with Raphinha who is under contract with Barca until 2027.

“So there’s still plenty of time [for Barcelona] and also remember what Hansi Flick did when he arrived one year ago at Barcelona.

“He called Raphinha and said ‘stay here, be part of my team, you are a crucial part of this squad.’

“So the intention from Barca is absolutely to trust Raphinha.”

Raphinha “out of reach” for Man Utd – Fabrizio Romano

Hammering the final nail into United’s transfer coffin, Romano added: “And honestly guys for Man Utd to go and sign a player like Raphinha would be quite complicated because we know they have to respect the balance, Financial Fair Play will be important.

“So these kind of signings would be really, really complicated, not just unlikely, but also unrealistic in this moment.

“Probably for Man Utd the view (signing cheaper players instead) will be different. We mentioned Liam Delap as one of the players they want in a battle with Chelsea.

“More players, but Raphinha in this moment is probably out of reach and also I’m not aware of any concrete conversations.”

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