According to The Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as one of the clubs in the race to sign Leeds United’s Raphinha.
The Brazilian winger has been the subject of lots of transfer speculation this summer with every club from Barcelona to Newcastle linked with the 25-year-old.
Tottenham have already made some serious moves in the transfer market, and now they could be in for Raphinha.
The Brazilian can blow hot and cold, as this season has shown, but one man who thinks he has bags of ability is Tottenham legend Gary Lineker.
What’s been said?
Lineker spoke highly of Raphinha back in February on Match of the Day after he was criticised by Ian Wright.
“I think Raphinha is somebody who has got to do a lot more, very disappointed with the way he played today,” Wright said.
“I think he has got to score that. He is somebody who needs to do more, a lot more, for me.”
Lineker responded: “He has got lots of ability.”
Wright replied: “Too much to be playing as poorly as he played today.”
Needs Conte
As Wright and Lineker’s conversation shows, Raphinha is an amazingly talented player who just lacks a bit of consistency, and that’s precisely why he should jump at the chance to join Tottenham.
If any manager will know how to get the best out of the Brazilian, it’s Antonio Conte, and under his tutelage, he could reach superstardom at Tottenham.
Just look at the work Conte has already done with Dejan Kulusevski. The Swede has improved ten-fold since joining Tottenham, and if Conte can have the same effect on Raphinha, the winger will be a truly frightening footballer.
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