At one stage, it looked likely that Raphinha would be the latest victim of Barcelona’s scattergun approach to transfers over recent years. The versatile Brazilian attacker joined from Leeds United in the summer of 2022 for a deal believed to be worth £50million.
Barca have a habit of signing the flavour of the month without having a real plan in place for them. It felt as though Raphinha would fall into such a category.
The left-footed maestro was fine in his first two seasons for the club. Had he justified his price tag? Probably not. Had he really been allowed to justify his price tag? Probably not. Injuries, managerial uncertainty, and the emergence of Lamine Yamal impacted Raphinha and his performances for Barca.
He was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea during the summer transfer window and was reportedly going to be used in part-exchange to lure Luis Diaz from Liverpool. Thankfully for Barcelona, neither move failed to materialise.
The 27-year-old is in the form of his life.
The Hansi Flick Approach
He’s been key to Hansi Flick’s perfect start in charge of the LaLiga giants, involving himself in 12 goals already in the league this term. Barcelona sit top of the table with 10 wins from 10 following their 4-0 demolition win over Real Madrid last weekend.
The German tactician has also guided the Catalan-based club to two wins from three in the Champions League with Raphinha netting a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Bayern Munich recently. The one-time Leeds winger is already on 10 goals for the season, equalling his tally for Barcelona across all competitions last term.
Goal Involvements This Season
He’s registered at least one goal involvement in each of his last five outings for Blaugrana. How different might their season have been had he pushed for the move elsewhere following? Had Joan Laporta got his way, Athletic Club’s Nico Williams would be at the Nou Camp appearing in an attack alongside Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.
The finances weren’t there though and Barcelona couldn’t sign their top target.
Almost Leaving Barca
In a recent interview with ESPN, Raphinha revealed that he had contemplated leaving the club and not just on one occasion either.
“Man, there were several moments, not just one [when I considered leaving Barça]. My first six months here, the period from the summer transfer window until the World Cup, was a season in which I didn't have the best of starts, so it crossed my mind to leave the club. There was a lot of self doubt. I have a nasty habit of criticising myself heavily, so to speak, so that pressure made me think about leaving. Then, obviously, after the World Cup I had a huge turnaround, managing to put up great numbers in six months.
"Last season, after the injuries I had, the sending off [against Getafe in the first game of the campaign], and also at the end of the season, seeing a lot of things that the club wanted to sell me, that the fans wanted me to leave, it also ends up crossing your mind to leave, to go somewhere where there's no pressure."
"But football is no fun without pressure. Football has to have a little pressure. I've always dreamed of playing for big clubs, playing big games for the national team, and you can't realise those dreams without pressure, the pressure comes with it. So, thank God, I didn't let myself get carried away by those thoughts that, naturally, end up going through your head. I just focused on working hard and adapting to the new roles I'd have to play on the pitch."
Captain
With Marc-Andre ter Stegen ruled out with injury, Raphinha has been wearing the captain’s armband for Barcelona. The pressure of this, captaining one of the biggest clubs in the world, has created a diamond.
He’s thriving as the main man, terrorising both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the space of a few days. Had this form arrived earlier in the year, he legitimately could’ve gatecrashed the Ballon d’Or conversation and relegated his compatriot, Vinicius Junior, to third position in the rankings.
Because right now, Raphinha is one of the most in-form players in the world. He has a FootballCritic rating of 99 and he’s fourth on the list behind Cole Palmer, Harry Kane and Lewandowski.
The rating is more than justified. The Brazil international has an Expected Goal Involvement average of 0.98 per 90, he’s averaging 3.47 shots and carving out 3.87 chances per 90. He’s making this happen at an alarming rate for the opposition. He’s almost unstoppable.
Missing out on Nico Williams and Luis Diaz really was a sliding-doors moment for Raphinha and Barcelona.
