Raphinha has made some jackets turn

If there is one thing that we cannot reproach Raphinha for, it is having the guts to follow through with his ideas. Often considered as “the one” who should have left Barça to replenish his coffers for the past two years, the Brazilian is indeed a Catalan player on this September 1st. And it is certainly not the Blaugrana supporters who will sulk at this news. Defective last season, the ex-Rennais has had a revision and is rolling in La Liga today.

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Above all, he has established himself as a major relay for Hansi Flick, who did not hesitate to make him one of his captains for the season. Since his arrival this summer, the German coach has given all the playing time possible to four of his players: ter Stegen, Íñigo Martínez, Jules Koundé, and therefore Raphinha. As for the Brazilian, we have rarely seen him as fit as in recent weeks. The only downside: his lack of statistics, at a time when we are now becoming fond of counting and emphasizing the individualization of performance. But he has remedied that.

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Already an assist for Pedri on Tuesday during Barça’s victory against Rayo Vallecano (1-2), Raphinha has done it again. Triple scorer, double assist, and even captain… The 27-year-old winger donned an ultra-large costume yesterday against Valladolid (7-0), and now brings his total to 3 goals and 3 assists. It’s simple: no one is doing better than him at the start of the La Liga season. This morning, the Catalan press is obviously full of praise for him, as are the club’s observers on social networks, who are not always kind to him. “Raphinha, the “signature” at the left winger position after the Willaims failure. Now he feels important”summary Sports WorldThe player himself welcomed this collective success: “I don’t know if it was my best game, but it’s one of the best. And I’ll try to do even better. I’m very happy, it’s my first hat-trick in my career. Very happy to have contributed to the victory. Today’s game showed us that it was not necessary for other players to arrive».

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But within the club itself, or at least within the squad, everyone has always been aware of the player’s qualities. “Player of the month”Lamine Yamal described it yesterday on his social networks. “12 points out of 12, there is no better feeling. And what a player Raphinha”wrote Dani Olmo. Of course, Hansi Flick, who can somehow take credit for mentoring this success, was also full of praise: “I’m surprised it took him so long to score a hat-trick because he has the quality and the confidence… His form is spectacular, he moves freely around the pitch”. On the left as on the right, his impact is indeed stunning. And in such a frame of mind, it would have been a shame to see him leave for Saudi Arabia at 27, especially when one has the ambition of being a regular in the Brazilian national team.