Once dispensable, now a fan favorite: 27-year-old Barcelona player’s remarkable turnaround | OneFootball

The summer of 2022 was a significant one for FC Barcelona. The infamous levers that Joan Laporta triggered helped the club have a transfer window of significant spending, bringing in players like Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha.

The Brazilian winger arrived at Barcelona for a fee of around £55 million from Leeds United. He turned down bigger offers from Arsenal, Tottenham, and, most importantly, Chelsea to pursue his dream of wearing the Blaugrana jersey.

However, Raphinha’s dream soon turned into a nightmare in his first season at the Spanish club. Often played out of position to accommodate Ousmane Dembele on the right, the Brazilian quickly lost his confidence and was not performing at the level Barcelona expected of him.

Raphinha found it difficult to impose himself in the rigid positional system that Xavi employed at Barcelona, and it took the Spanish tactician nearly a season and a half to grant the Brazilian a role with more freedom. Since then, there have been glimpses of what he can do, most notably in the two games against PSG in the Champions League.

Everything changed for Raphinha at Barcelona after the arrival of Hansi Flick at the beginning of the season. As highlighted by Toni Juanmarti of SPORT, the 27-year-old winger has gone from being a dispensable player at the club amid their financial woes to an absolute fan favorite and a guaranteed starter in the first team.

Watching Raphinha play this season, it almost feels as though Hansi Flick has taken off his shackles and allowed him the freedom to play as he wishes on the pitch—and the results speak for themselves. So far this season, he has been Barcelona’s best player.

Just in the past week, across three games against Sevilla, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, Raphinha scored four goals (including a hat trick against Manuel Neuer) and provided three assists. Overall this season, he has 10 goals and nine assists in just 14 games across all competitions.

It is never easy to win over a fanbase after disappointing them for most of two seasons. Yet Raphinha’s performances have been so impactful that, from being seen as a sellable asset, he is now the subject of contract renewal talks. Let’s hope the 27-year-old can continue performing at this level for seasons to come.