If reports are to be believed, Leeds United have turned down a £30 million bid for Raphinha from Barcelona. Yes, you read that right. £30 million.
Not £70 million. Not £60 million. But £30 million. Just £10 million or so more than Leeds paid when signing the winger from Rennes in the summer of 2020, before he had two seasons of dazzling Premier League football under his belt, not to mention a handful of caps for the Brazilian national team.
You won’t need us to tell you whether Leeds opted to accept or reject Barcelona’s offer.
Then again, Barcelona are in no real position to break the bank last summer. Don’t let the £50 million signing of Ferran Torres distract you from the fact that Barca are still a billion euros or so in debt.
The La Liga have signed eight new years since last player but only one of those – Torres – arrived for a fee. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia were freebies. Luuk de Jong, Adama Traore and Yusuf Demir arrived on loan.
So, if Barcelona are serious about adding Raphinha to a new-look frontline, they’ll have to get creative.
Raphinha out, Trincao in?
According to Sport, Barca have offered versatile defender Oscar Mingueza as a makeweight in the Raphinha deal. Mundo Deportivo believe that Francisco Trincao, the winger currently on loan at Wolves, has also been put forward.
When you consider that no team in the history of the 38-game Premier League have conceded as many goals after 28 games than Leeds United did, then you’d be forgiven for suggesting that Mingueza is the one they should go for.
Trincao, however, is certainly an intriguing prospect. Barcelona paid £26 million for him when he was just 20 years of age. A former Braga team-mate also went as far as to compare him with the incomparable.
“Trincao is an incredible player, with lots of character and remarkable quality,” Abel Ruiz told PortuGoal.
“He’s a great dribbler. He can go past his man either side – on the right, on the left – and he’s got a very good shot. He’s a complete player. I’d say he’s similar to (Lionel) Messi.”
Clearly, Trincao has talent.
It’s just that, at Wolves in particular, he hasn’t really shown it. Well, until Leeds arrived at Molineux in mid-March of course.
Trincao came off the bench in the first-half that night and proceeded to produce perhaps the finest 20-minute performance of his senior career. He assisted Jonny Castro Otto’s opener, smacked the post from 25-yards and, after bamboozling Jesse Marsch’s backline, found the bottom corner with a gorgeous shot outside of the box.
Trincao has only produced one goal and one assist in 22 Premier League games. And both came against Leeds. It’s worth mentioning that he’s also at his most effective when playing in the same right-wing position that Raphinha has made his own at Elland Road. He could, therefore, be a readymade successor for the Brazilian.
When it comes to end product and efficiency, however, there is only one winner. In two Prem seasons, Raphinha has 15 goals and 12 assist. Numbers Trincao can only dream of.
Then again, he is three years younger than Raphinha. Who’s to say, when Trincao is 25, he won’t be producing performances like the one at Molineux on March 18th week-in, week-out?
Trincao is a risk. There’s only one way to find out if he’s one worth taking.
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