03/07/2024 Act. at 9:57 PM CEST
Raphinha has said it time and again: he wants to stay at Barça. With a contract until 2027 and the claim of having been one of the most decisive players despite the team’s poor season in general, he went to the Copa América, where a similar situation is happening to him, this time with Brazil. The ‘canarinha’ are having a poor championship, but Raphinha stood out in the draw against Colombia. The goal for the ‘canarinha’ was his with a perfect free kick.
Why doesn’t he take more free kicks at Barça?
And not only that. After removing the cobwebs in the first half from the goal defended by Camilo Vargas, In the second, he again came close to scoring a goal from a direct shot. He went just wide of the net, but once again he had very ‘bad intentions’. A consummate specialist, given what happened in Santa Clara, when his team, Barça, has real problems scoring from free kicks.
Since Leo Messi left, it’s been a drama. In the season that just ended, only two goals were scored from free kicks: one was by Lewandowski against Valencia and the other by Ferran Torres against Betis. Raphinha took a few shots, even though he’s not the team’s main taker, but without success.
Numbers that vindicate him
Although he has always been questioned since he signed for FC Barcelona in 2022 from Leeds (the 58 million euros paid are certainly a burden), the truth is that Raphinha’s numbers as a Barça player are nothing to sneeze at: 20 goals and 25 assists in 85 games.
In the 2022/2023 season he reached ‘double figures’ and in 2023/2024, the Porto Alegre native has repeated and even surpassed himself: 10 goals and 13 assists (1 more than in his first year).
Even so, his future at Barcelona is still not assured. Also because he is one of the few who maintains a high cachet, especially in the Premier League, and The club sees it as a solution to the demands of financial fair play with a large sale.
Nico’s ‘threat’
Raphinha is hurting not to be declared untransferable, but he is used to it. He does not hide his intentions and is convinced that he will be important in Hansi Flick’s plans, despite all the talk about the need (and the desire) to sign Nico Williams as a winger.
Meanwhile, he hopes to go far with Brazil in the Copa América, although the ‘verdeamarela’ will have to improve a lot if they want to get through the night from Saturday to Sunday (3:00 a.m. peninsular time) to eliminate Uruguay, led by his teammate Ronald Araujo and Marcelo Bielsa, and move on in the competition.
2024-07-03 19:26:08
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