REVEALED: The Reason Behind Barcelona Midfielder Rafinha Pushing for a Move to Inter Milan

Barcelona midfielder Rafinha's father, Mazinho, has claimed his son's proposed switch from the Camp Nou to Inter Milan is simply to record more minutes on the pitch. 

According to Gazetta dello Sport, as quoted by the Daily Mail, the Brazilian is set to make an initial temporary move from the La Liga leaders to Nerazzurri with a £30m option to buy clause following the conclusion of this season if he impresses for the Serie A outfit. 

The 24-year-old has managed to make just one substitute appearance since Ernesto Valverde was instated at the helm of Blaugrana during the summer, which came last week in his current side's 1-0 Copa del Rey defeat to close rivals Espanyol. 

That was in fact Rafinha's first outing for the Catalonians since April 2017, after the midfielder suffered a long-term knee injury which kept him out until the back end of December. 

However, the Brazil international now has the opportunity to get back to playing regular football, something which is the pressing factor in his decision to join Inter Milan this month, according to his father. 

“Rafinha wants to join Inter because he simply wants to play”, Mazinho told Brazilian news outlet Globo Esporte.

“It’s very difficult to get into the Barcelona side as there are so many players. He also had the bad luck of getting that knee injury over the last two years.

“He just wants to play, feel happy and do what he loves at an excellent club like Inter.

“Rafinha has a contract with Barcelona until 2020. We’re drawing up a pre-contract with Inter until 2021.”