As recent Leeds United fan favourites go, Raphinha has to be at the very top of the list for entertainment and flair during his time at Elland Road before joining Barcelona.
Victor Orta may have made some disappointing signings for Leeds during his time with the club, but perhaps his greatest success came in the form of the Brazilian.
He was signed for the Whites from Rennes for £17 million ahead of the club's return to the Premier League, and played a key role at Elland Road as Marcelo Bielsa's side established themselves in the top-flight.
It appeared like a highly promising, if not exciting, piece of business at the time, with Raphinha leaving a club who had just qualified for the Champions League to move to a newly-promoted Leeds side.
What was to come was Raphinha arguably becoming the best player to have turned out at Elland Road in the last 20 years, with the maverick dazzling on the flank.
Raphinha secured yet another brace in midweek for Barcelona in a 5-1 demolition of Mallorca, with many Leeds fans looking on with pure admiration this season at a player that goes down as the best player they have had in the last 20 years of their most recent history.
Raphinha's time with Leeds and wage at Elland Road
Raphinha Leeds 1920
A born match winner, Raphinha single-handedly won the side many points during Bielsa’s first season with the club. The Brazilian left Leeds fans — and opposition fans — in awe at the quality and consistency of his performances, which eventually culminated in him gaining his move to Barcelona on sheer brilliance and absolute merit.
He was an archetypal Bielsa winger, combining devastating quality in possession and on the counter with an intense work rate off the ball as well. His ability to cut inside and unleash powerful and accurate strikes was particularly strong, but he was so much more than that as a two-way winger.
Raphinha would regularly get the ball on the right-hand side and beat his opposing full-back with some magic before putting the ball in low for a cutback goal, which was a trademark move of Bielsa's team. The Argentine worked on repeatable patterns and actions that the side could fall upon with consummate ease, and Raphinha was key to that.
But the Brazilian star wasn't a luxury creative player, as he had the intensity needed to play Bielsa-ball in a difficult man-to-man press as well, which made him such a devastating player for Leeds in most facets of the game. He had the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck to drag Leeds up the pitch, even if it was a little 'hero-ball' for some.
Following Bielsa's departure, Raphinha’s scintillating form in the back end of the 2021/22 season helped keep Leeds in the Premier League and earned him his dream move to Barcelona for a reported fee of around £55 million. The Brazilian international spent only two seasons in West Yorkshire, but wrote his name in Elland Road folklore forever in securing survival on final day with a pressure penalty against Brentford.
He scored 17 and assisted a further 12 in his 67 games for the club but ended his final game by celebrating in the away end with the Leeds fans in West London.
Raphinha's Leeds United statistics, according to Transfermarkt
Season
2020/21
2021/22
Total
Per Capology's estimations, Raphinha was Leeds' third-highest paid player in his final season at the club, with Rodrigo and Patrick Bamford the only two teammates who earnt in excess of the £63,462 weekly figure the Brazilian's contract paid him, which was £3.3 million per year. But how does that compare to his current situation at Barcelona? We take a look, here.
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Raphinha's Barcelona form and wage
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He may have only donned the white shirt for two years, but he certainly made his impact during his time in West Yorkshire, with a number of match-winning performances from his position on the wing.
Not that Leeds fans would have wanted to wave goodbye to the magnificent mercurial talent, who had them gushing in the stands with his outstanding performances while with the club.
However, that inspiring form has seen his career go from strength to strength since, scoring 10 goals and collecting 12 assists last season for Barcelona in 50 games during his first campaign with the club, whilst also making himself a regular for the Brazil national team in that period. But the best was yet to come
The 31-cap Brazil international has been among Barcelona's best players ever since. He racked up double digits for both goals and assists in his next campaign with Barça, helping them to their first La Liga triumph in four years and lighting up the league, which came as little surprise to Leeds fans.
Raphinha has become a key player at Camp Nou, continuing his good form into this campaign by adding another ten goals and 13 assists in 37 games to his tally.
That pales in comparison to this season, as seen below, which has turned into his best at the club by a considerable distance, with Raphinha set to smash his goalscoring exploits from the previous seasons and developing into one of the best players in the world.
Raphinha's 24/25 stats in all competitions - as per Transfermarkt (05/12/24)
Appearances
Goals
Assists
It was known that he had the quality to meet the challenge and flourish on the grandest stages, which he's certainly done. He is one of the club's highest paid players, but is more than worth every penny as one of the most in-form players in any major league across Europe right now, with goals and assists flowing in both the league and UEFA Champions League.
Per Capology, he is the fifth-highest paid player at the club, which sees him earn €240,385 (£198,916) per week OR €12.5million per year. Leeds supporters will be full of pride to see their former favourite pulling up trees on club football's premiere podium and becoming, many would argue, the best winger in Europe at the present moment, alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah.