Arsenal Reportedly Join Race to Rafinha Amidst Interest From Premier League Rivals

Arsenal have reportedly joined the race for Barcelona's Rafinha amidst interest from London rivals West Ham and Spurs.

The Brazilian midfielder spent the 2017/18 season out on loan in Italy with Inter where he impressed, scoring twice and assisting a further three goals in 17 appearances. Inter were reportedly in line to secure a deal for Rafinha, but were reluctant to pay the €35m price tag agreed upon between Inter and Barcelona in January, thus sparking interest from both West Ham and Tottenham.

However, yet another sting in the tail may occur as now Arsenal are also set to vie for Rafinha's signature as new manager Unai Emery looks to bolster his midfield options ahead of his maiden Premier League season. According to Sport (via SportWitness), Arsenal have made an approach for Rafinha, but are yet to make an official bid for the South American star.

West Ham, under new boss Manuel Pellegrini, are looking to rebuild their squad after a disappointing campaign under first Slavan Bilic and then David Moyes, and it was previously reported that they were in the driving seat to snap up Rafinha.

Tottenham then waded in to the fray as it was reported that Rafinha was one of Maurico Pochettino's top targets this summer. Some reports even suggested that Barcelona may be willing to use Rafinha as a bargaining chip in order to sign one of Spurs' star players, Christian Eriksen.

Now that Arsenal are said to be involved in the transfer saga, both West Ham and Tottenham will have a difficult task in ensuring that they remain at the front of the queue.

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None of the three London clubs have dropped their interest in Rafinha so a bidding war may ensue this summer with the Brazilian's future destination currently remaining a mystery.