Leeds United have been one of the best teams in the Premier League this season in terms of excitement and attacking intent.
Unfortunately, good performances usually leads to bigger clubs sniffing around your best players, and it hasn’t taken long for one of Leeds’ top performers to be linked with a move away from the club.
Indeed, Raphinha has already been linked with a move to Liverpool, and while that may be cause for panic in the eyes of some Leeds fans, they may not need to worry.
Indeed, Leeds may already have Raphinha’s successor lined up in the shape of Ian Poveda.
Poveda is something of an enigma at Leeds. Everytime he comes onto the pitch he impresses with his pace, dribbling skills and directness, but we’ve only ever seen him in short cameos.
However, the fact that he’s yet to start a Premier League game hasn’t stopped him from earning all sorts of plaudits, and the important thing is, he’s been doing it against top sides.
According to his WhoScored page, his best performance of the season came against Manchester City, and we can’t argue with that view, as he looked a constant threat during that game, running at defender with no fear, and often getting the better of the best backline in England.
Dare we say it, the performance against City was Raphinha-esque, and if he can produce that sort of showing on a regular basis, he will be a star in the same way the Brazilian is.
Of course, for this to happen he needs to add some consistency to his game and get some more regular minutes, but if there’s any manager that knows how to handle a player with this talent it’s Marcelo Bielsa.
You don’t end up on the books at Barcelona and Man City if you’re not a special player, and if Raphinha does end up leaving, Poveda could be ready to step up and replace him.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
