16 January 2023 , 14:31
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Raphinha has been the star of his club side throughout his career.
Whether it was his time in Portugal with Vitoria Guimaraes and Sporting Lisbon, with Rennes in Ligue 1 or Leeds – the Brazilian has always been the attacking talisman.
However, that was never going to be the case at Barcelona after the forward completed a £55million transfer from Elland Road. Last summer alone, Robert Lewandowski also joined the Catalan club and Ousmane Dembele renewed his contract.
With Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Memphis Depay also fighting for a starting spot in a bloated squad, Raphinha has started just seven of the club’s 16 La Liga matches this season, appearing more as a substitute than as a starter.
The move to Barcelona came after the club gazumped offers from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, luring the 26-year-old to join the Catalan club’s eye-catching summer spending spree despite their long-term financial concerns.
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There is now, somewhat surprisingly, renewed interest from the Gunners in the forward. It comes after Arsenal missed out on signing long-term target Mykhaylo Mudryk and loan option Joao Felix in the January transfer window, meaning they must pursue other targets.
Raphinha has the right profile for Arsenal and there is no doubt over the player’s quality, but it does feel like there are more questions than answers over his time at Barca. Without any regularity of starts and rarely appearing to be more than just a squad player, Raphinha’s career may be at a crossroads.
Raphinha has had to accept starting from the substitute's bench at Barcelona a lot this campaign (Eric Alonso/Getty)Have Your Say! Do you think Arsenal should try to sign Raphinha this month? Tell us what you think here.
This season, he ranks seventh in dribbles created for Barca and fourth for number of touches in the opposition penalty area. Five of his teammates have scored more than his three goals, although he has provided five assists.
Raphinha’s World Cup showings with Brazil proved to be a similarly mixed bag. He appeared in all five of his nation’s matches and started in four of them, yet he struggled to be involved in any of Brazil’s big moments and did not find the net, with his output feeling a little decaffeinated.
Dembele’s contract renewal at Camp Nou is detrimental for Raphinha’s minutes, as the pair are directly competing to start on the right wing. Manager Xavi is a huge fan of the Frenchman and the 25-year-old has excelled with six goals and seven assists this season. Raphinha, meanwhile, has lost his well-established status as the attacking focal point, simply becoming part of a minor par of an attacking unit.
The Gunners already have Bukayo Saka in the wide-right attacking position and there is no guarantee that Raphinha would start in his preferred role. There is also the sense that, despite it not going to plan so far, the Brazilian will not give up on his dream of becoming a Barcelona star.
Arsenal need to sign a player this month to help bolster and sustain their title assault, but they will be wary of not unsettling their regular starting line-up, which has become well-established. That makes it unlikely they will move for Raphinha, who would surely only countenance a Camp Nou exit if he would become a talisman once more.