Raphinha remains a beloved name among Leeds United fans, who have been keeping a close eye on his whirlwind time at Barcelona.
Leeds United said goodbye to Raphinha in the summer of 2022 with the Catalan club paying £55million to sign the Brazilian international, who’s since become one of the best players in the world.
In La Liga this season, the 28-year-old Raphinha has scored 13 and assisted eight more in 27 games, with a staggering 27 goals and 20 assists in 43 games in all competitions in this 2024/25 season so far.
There’s talk of Raphinha winning a Ballon d’Or one day down the line, or maybe even this season. But the winger was recently involved in some not-so-positive headlines following Brazil’s 4-1 defeat against Argentina in the March international break.
But all is well that ends well.
Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Raphinha and Rodrigo De Paul swap shirts after Atletico 0-1 Barcelona
On Wednesday night, Barcelona beat Atletico 1-0 in the Copa Del Rey to book themselves a final against Real Madrid at the end of April. The game saw Raphinha and Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul go face to face after the pair’s heated game during the international break.
After Argentina’s win, Raphinha was filmed in altercations with some of Argentina players on the pitch, although nothing violent, after Raphinha had predicted before the game that Brazil would ‘thrash’ Argentina. Lionel Scaloni, manager of Argentina, forgave Raphinha after the game for his comments.
Then after Barca beat Atletico on the Copa Del Rey, Raphinha and De Paul were pictured swapping shirts, as Fabrizio Romano posted on X…
MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES
Leeds United once wanted to sign Rodrigo De Paul
The 30-year-old De Paul now has an impressive 76 caps for his country as well as a World Cup. He’s also one of Atletico’s key players and one of the top central midfielders in La Liga with 177 total appearances for Atletico, along with 14 goals and 24 assists.
But along with Raphinha, De Paul could’ve arrived at Elland Road in the summer of 2020. Then at Udinese, De Paul ended up joining Atletico in the summer of 2021 in a £30million deal, going from strength to strength since.
What’s worse for Leeds is that De Paul was seemingly open to joining Leeds. In a post he later deleted, De Paul reacted to a post on social media that stated he and Leeds were in talks, with De Paul replying ‘Yes’ with a fingers crossed emoji… What could’ve been for Leeds.
The Whites return to action against 23rd place Luton Town in the Championship on Saturday.