Barca English
Obviously, Raphinha could not live up to the expectations he generated after his signing. They paid a lot of money for him, and this caused many to criticize the investment made by Juan Laporta and Matteo Alemany.
They believe that it was not necessary to sign him, in the presence of Ousmane Dembele, Memphis Depay, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, and the budget did not allow this kind of madness.
Nor did they see the Brazilian striker as a world-class player capable of making the difference. In fact, he only had two good seasons at Leeds United, but he had no Champions League experience.
However, they did not hesitate to go to the Camp Nou, and ended up signing the former Stade Rennes and Sporting Lisbon player, who began to surprise everyone, including Xavi Hernandez, in his first weeks.
But little by little his form dropped, and he ended up being criticized for his mistakes when making decisions in the last metres. Because of this, he lost his place in the starting lineup, and in the last matches before the World Cup in Qatar he played a completely secondary role.
In the Brazilian national team, he trusted his ability to re-establish himself, and he knew that he had the full confidence of the coach, Tite, who put him first at the expense of Anthony, Gabriel Martinelli and Rodrigo.
Raphinha had a good chance to prove himself, however, he didn’t know how to take advantage of it. He was very disappointed with his performance, and was one of the players most criticized after Brazil’s quarter-final elimination against Croatia.
In Barcelona, they began to regret signing it, and there is already talk that they are looking for a buyer for it, because they are trying to recover what they paid for it, before its value drops further.
They already have a possible replacement in mind, with Xavi asking to sign a winger who convinces him a lot, and who he is convinced will contribute more than Raphinha.
The player in question is Moussa Diaby, who surprised everyone with his performance in the ranks of Bayer Leverkusen. He arrived as a promising youngster from the youth teams of Paris Saint-Germain and, at the age of 23, had already become a star in the Bundesliga.
Xavi believes he could be a great value to Barcelona, and would do much better than Rafenha, but it remains to be seen what price Leverkusen will ask for the France international.
Source: El Nacional
