‘Liverpool-target Raphinha now worth almost €40m’

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 1 min read

Former Leeds attacker Noel Whelan has hailed winger Raphinha, saying that the Brazilian has doubled his value already this season.

Leeds signed the 24-year-old from Rennes last summer for a fee in the region of €20 million.

He has made an instant impact in the Premier League, making eight goal contributions in just 16 appearances.

This form has resulted in interest from elsewhere, with Liverpool heavily linked with making a summer move for the wideman.

And former Leeds attacker Whelan believes that Raphinha has been so good so far that he has already doubled his transfer value at Elland Road.

“He’s incredible, he really is – I mean we weren’t sure what we were getting when we bought him, we’d seen clips on YouTube etcetera but didn’t know a great deal about him,” Whelan told Football Insider.

“At €20 million, I think you can probably double that now with the way he’s come in and made an impact on the team and the way he’s going about his business.”

“He’s bought into everything that Marcelo Bielsa wants in a player, which is not just that flair on the field but that hard work and ethic that he brings as well, with the amount of trackbacks we’ve seen.”

Leeds are currently in 11^th place and are next in action on Monday evening against Crystal Palace.