Barcelona has been going through a financial crisis, which has unfortunately affected their performances on the field as well in recent years. Under the new management of Joan Laporta and Xavi Hernandez, the club went on to spend around 150 million dollars on signings in the summer of 2022 by selling levers to provide some stability to the club.
New signings like Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and others did well in the first season, but with the second season coming to an end, the team still looks far away from their expectations, with manager Xavi already announcing his resignation at the end of the current season, fueling the transfer speculations of the Brazilian winger in the summer.
Raphinha’s Struggles at Barcelona
After joining La Liga side Barcelona, there were high expectations from the Brazilian because of the name that he has made for himself in the Premier League. Despite offers from Chelsea FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, and Bayern Munich FC, the Brazilian decided to join the broken club Barcelona to fulfill his childhood dream and the fans were excited to see a Brazilian in a team competing with Ousmane Dembele for the right-wing position.
Although the idea of such a competition was very logical, the only issue was that the Brazilian was not the player the fans thought he was. Playing on the right wing for Barcelona means the player must have one-on-one dribbling abilities and quick trickery and should be able to meet the man on pace, but Raphinha was never such a player.
All his career, he has played as an interior winger who combines with the players around him to create chances outside and near the box, but at Barcelona, the requirement was different and the Brazilian certainly didn’t fit that category.
After the heroics of Neymar Jr., Ronaldinho, and more, the expectation bar for Raphinha was already set too high just because he was a Brazilian, and Brazilians have done wonders for the club in the past.
But Raphinha was different. He wasn’t the type of player like Neymar, who had all the tricks to pull over a defender and neither was he like Ronaldinho, who was just sensational with the ball at his feet.
Raphinha was a decent interior winger who combined well with the team to create chances and create tiki-taka patterns, but that wasn’t the role that the player was signed for as the club already had Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie, and Busquets in the midfield to do so.
And so the fans saw Raphina play a role he was never used to and thus the performances that made him such a great player never arrived last season.
This season, with the departure of Ousmane Dembele to PSG, it finally seemed like the time had come for the Brazilian to shine for the club and he was playing well in the first game of the season before he took a red card and a 3-match suspension for a silly elbow on the opponent’s face.
Since then, the emergence of young star Lamine Yamal and Raphinha’s recurring injuries have kept him out of the starting 11 and it seems maybe the time for the Brazilian might be over at the club since the club is in dire need of money to do new signings and Raphinha could be a good asset to cash in on since the player still has a demanding market for him.
Uncertainty Surrounding Raphinha’s Future
According to recent report by Paul O’Keefe, an English FA intermediary, Tottenham Hotspur is interested in a move for the Brazilian winger after missing out on him in the summer of 2022.
Spurs are themselves going through an injury crisis and adding a quality right-winger to their squad wouldn’t harm their chances of winning their first-ever title next season, especially after how well they were playing under Ange Postecoglu at the start of the current season before going through the injury crisis.
The sale of England striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich last summer has given them funds, which they have cleverly spent this year and would be willing to spend to sign a former Leeds United player because of his proven potential in the Premier League.
The $50 million-rated player has provided numbers for the Catalan side, even if consistent performances never came. The 27-year-old player has provided 14 and 19 assists, which isn’t bad considering how much time he spent on the bench or the sidelines.
The player has 4 goals and 7 assists this season itself, despite tough competition from Lamine Yamal, silly red card suspensions, and recurring hamstring injuries. Currently, the player is returning from another injury and would be determined to prove a point to the club and the fans.
Raphinha’s career has been full of ups and downs and it would be interesting to see how the upcoming summer window pans out for Raphinha. Do you think the Brazilian deserves to stay for another season at the club or should he just be cashed on so that the club could sign someone more suitable with that money? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
