No, Megan Rapinoe is not looking to move to Barcelona

With her name in the headlines today due to her award as FIFA’s Best Women’s Player for 2019, several outlets picked up on a story from AS late last week linking Reign FC’s Megan Rapinoe with a potential move to Barcelona. But NWSL and Reign FC fans need not worry – the original story takes a quote from an interview she gave to La Liga and pulls it very far out of context… watch for yourself.

Rapinoe was first asked which La Liga men’s team she favors, and noted that “how Barcelona plays is beautiful and inspiring; it’s a joy to see them. Also, Atletico plays with such intensity that is always so much fun, and obviously, Real Madrid has great players, but Barcelona is number one in my heart.”

Later she was asked if she would ever consider playing in Spain, and first jokingly asked why a team would want an aging Rapinoe, before playing up to the interview audience and saying she’d consider it at the end of her career and that she’s always “open to all offers.” The Spanish league has been growing in prominence recently, setting a new world attendance record of over 60k and making notable signings as they seek to boost their stature.

Barcelona, for their part, say they are open to the idea of having the Women’s Player of the Year on their roster (who wouldn’t be?), but at this point the rumor appears to be nothing more than piecing together unrelated quotes and not anything Rapinoe is actively pursuing. That said, it’s great to see women’s players reaching a level of fame where they are becoming the subject of rumors like this, but it’s also a lesson in going back to the original sources to check for context.