Barcelona are already getting ‘impatient’ with Raphinha after the Brazilian’s transfer from Leeds United in July. The La Liga giants also ‘expect much more’ after his quiet World Cup.
That is according to Sport, which reports the Blaugrana hope the forward will ‘take off’ and can show considerable improvements. Raphinha has only scored two goals and four assists over 18 appearances across all competitions since moving to Catalunya for an initial £49m.
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His switch to Camp Nou could also end up costing Barcelona £55m with add-ons following two years at Elland Road. Leeds secured their transfer for Raphinha from Stade Rennais in October 2020 for £17m, rising to £23m. He hit 17 goals and 12 assists in 67 Whites outings.
Barcelona are now getting impatient waiting for Raphinha to make the leap and justify the transfer fee Leeds demanded. His impact in Xavi’s attack before the World Cup break was irregular. The 26-year-old has also only started 10 of his 18 appearances with six in La Liga.
Raphinha failed to shine for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, either. The 16-cap star featured in all five of the Selecao’s fixtures and started in four. Yet Tite did not witness the winger score or create a single goal en route to their exit in the quarter-finals to Croatia.
Barcelona are already ‘impatient’ with Raphinha since his transfer from Leeds
Barcelona now hope Raphinha can show why they sought his transfer from Leeds over the remainder of this season. The Catalan giants’ coaching staff particularly want their €6m-a-year (£101k-a/w) winger to offer more in one-vs-one situations and show an end product.
Xavi’s staff sense Raphinha is not showing the technical quality he displayed at Elland Road in previous seasons. So, Barcelona will conduct a full review of his debut term at the end of the season and could consider his future. Raphinha still has a huge market back in England.
So, Raphinha must now show he can oust Ousmane Dembele to feature on the right wing at Camp Nou. Scoring two goals in 13 La Liga appearances, of which he started six, and not netting any in five Champions League outings, of which he opened four, is just not enough.
The frustrations of a disappointing World Cup campaign on the back of a tepid start to life in Catalunya could be the Catalyst for Raphinha to explode. Although his best days in the Leeds jersey last term came during the opening half of the season before a tougher patch.
Of the 11 goals and three assists Raphinha struck over 35 Premier League games last term, he only offered three goals and two assists during 2022. He had no direct influence on any goals in 14 of his 19 appearances after the turn of the year following a prolific earlier run.
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