Raphinha has left Barcelona 'baffled' by poor form
Karan Tejwani
- 2 Nov 2022 06:40 CDT
- 3 min read
Raphinha joined Barcelona this summer with plenty of enthusiasm and hype around his signing, but things haven’t panned out quite as well for him.
The Brazilian joined from Leeds after a few years excelling with the Premier League side, ensuring they stay in the English top flight and he left with huge expectations.
Raphinha had a bright start to life as well, doing well in pre-season and impressing many with his performances, but those haven’t carried into the main season.
READ: One goal and assist in 14 games - Raphinha a €60m FLOP
Now, some figures amongst the Barcelona set-up are having doubts about his signing and are wondering if they made a mistake in spending a big fee to bring him over to the club.
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Raphinha leaves Barcelona confused
Barcelona forked out a big €48 million sum to bring him over from Leeds United – a big risk considering their financial situation at the minute.
Two months into his stay at the club, he has lost his starting role in the side and when he does make appearances for the team, they are rarely spectacular, leaving the club baffled by his lack of impact.
READ: The five players Barcelona must sell after Champions League humiliation
According to AS, Barcelona officials are confused – they feel the player performs at an exceptionally high level in training but aren’t sure why that doesn’t translate to performances on the pitch.
They are aware that Raphinha has big potential and will continue to keep faith in him, even though he might not start every game in the first team.
Signing Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié, Héctor Bellerín, Jules Koundé and Marcos Alonso in one summer only to drop down to the Europa League with two games left is a massive disappointment whichever way you look at it.
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) October 26, 2022
There is plenty of competition on the wing for Raphinha to compete with for a position on the wing and right now, Ousmane Dembele is taking up that role.
Barcelona feel Raphinha reduces the balance in the side and would ideally require another midfielder to cover for his lack of contribution of the ball.
Times are tense at Barcelona and the Champions League group stage exit doesn’t help – they’ll be hoping Raphinha can come good sooner rather than later.
