Barcelona winger Raphinha is one of the early contenders to win the Ballon d'Or this season. The Brazil international has been in terrific form in 2025 and may finish the season with a historic treble.
La Blaugrana have already won the Copa del Rey crown alongside fighting for the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League. They are four points ahead of second-place Real Madrid in the domestic standings with only four games to go.
The Catalans are also into the UCL semifinals, and there's a possibility of Hansi Flick guiding his team to a glorious treble, something he achieved with Bayern Munich in 2020.
As par of a recent interview, Raphinha has revealed he was approached by the Italian national team to represent them in 2020 under Roberto Mancini's leadership.
The Barcelona winger, who has featured in 33 matches for Brazil and scored 11 goals had an opportunity to don the Azzurri blue - as his father is of Italian descent - and he holds the Italian passport.
In 2020, he had not yet made his international debut for the Selecao, so the Italian federation reached out, as Mancini wanted him in his Euro 2020 squad.
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However, Raphinha turned down the deal due to his belief he would receive a call-up from Brazil and would represent the Samba Boys That day came a year later when he made his debut for Brazil in October 2021, coming on as a substitute in a 3-1win against Venezuela.
Why Raphinha rejected Italy approach
"I was close to accepting the Italian national team call," Raphinha told journalist Isabela Pagliari during an interview.
"I was supposed to go to the Euros they won in 2020. I was basically set to go. So luckily, since the passport didn’t come through."
The 28-year-old would not have been the only Italy international with a Brazilian background, as Jorginho, Emerson Palmeiri and Rafael Toloi all featured in that Italy team which went on to win Euro 2020.
"At that point, the people from the Italy national team were calling me. Jorginho used to call me all the time. The Italian staff had an amazing project for me, something that really caught my eye.
"But at the same time, deep down, I still had that 1% of hope that I could wear the Brazil shirt. And luckily, my Italian passport didn’t get ready in time."
Raphinha always dreamt of representing Brazil due to the legacy and the heritage of the Brazil team. He eventually got that chance, and now he is one of their integral players heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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