Raphinha names the one Man Utd player he wants Barcelona to sign

Raphinha named the one Manchester United player he wants Barcelona to sign, ahead of the two clubs’ Europa League play-off encounter.

United are set to take on Barcelona on Thursday evening at the Camp Nou, in a star-studded fixture once worthy of gracing the Champions League final.

Despite a handsome win over Viktoria Plzen in the final game of the Champions League group stage, the Catalan giants dropped into the Europa League after failing to finish above Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

However, since a 3-0 defeat to the Bundesliga leaders, Xavi’s men have not lost in 16 games in all competitions and are 11 points clear at the summit of La Liga.

Having failed to even qualify for this season’s Champions League, United have also enjoyed a resurgence under Erik ten Hag.

The Old Trafford club are in pursuit of their first silverware of any kind, having made it to the Carabao Cup final, while they are within five points of Premier League league leader Manchester City.

Raphinha names Man Utd star he wants at Barcelona

As both clubs prepare for their mammoth Europa League tie, Barcelona winger Raphinha admitted he would love the Catalan giants to sign his Brazil team-mate Casemiro.

Raphinha told ESPN Brazil: “Man, Casemiro is a player that I always talk about to my friends and family,’

“He’s a player that I’d particularly like to have on my team.

“In addition to the experience he has in football and all the things he has achieved in football, he’s a great leader, he’s a great person, and he manages to complete a team with the quality he has.

“For me, he’s one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.”

Casemiro signed for United for some £70million last summer, having spent almost a decade at Barcelona’s La Liga rivals Real Madrid, where he won five Champions Leagues.

The midfielder has quickly established himself as one of United’s most important players this term as the club battle on four fronts.

Indeed, United left-back Luke Shaw told a press conference on Wednesday: "I think it's obvious to see how important [Casemiro] is to the team. For us as defenders, it gives us a feeling of security. He loves to win the ball back and tackle.

"We joke he likes to give the ball away so he can win it back. I'm very happy to have him back tomorrow night because he's been a big miss for us."

Topics: Football, Transfers, Raphinha, Barcelona, Manchester United, Casemiro, Europa League

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.