Chelsea brought in five new senior players this past summer transfer window, alongisde a handful of promising youngsters including Carney Chukwuemeka, who made two of Thomas Tuchel's matchday squads this season. 

But supporters had been expecting at least one more in Leeds United's Raphinha, who had been teasingly close to a move to West London before Barcelona swopped in and signed him first.

The Brazilian cost the La Liga giants £52.20million, according to Transfer Markt, and would have taken Chelsea's summer spend to over £300million if they had been able to secure him instead. 

Raphinha scoring v Chelsea in 2021. 

However, once the winger learned of Barca's interest, he was only going to end up in one place. 

“My dream was to wear the Barcelona shirt, which is a club that I have followed since I was very young. Since Ronaldinho arrived," he explained in an interview with La Vanguardia.

“With him I began to understand a little more the history of the club. I wanted to be a part of this. So that dream, those desires were stronger than any other proposal no matter how powerful it was financially.

“Ronnie congratulated me through my father. Yes, I talk a lot with Neymar. He told me that if he came here he would not regret it. He is right.”

Raphinha celebrating his first Barcelona goal with Ousmane Dembele. 

So, whilst Chelsea could offer him higher wages and Leeds a better transfer fee in the end, Raphinha had to go with his heart.