BT Sport pundit Joe Cole has praised Raphinha for what he has done at Leeds United – but thinks he might need to move to a bigger club in order to progress.
Raphinha has been far and away Leeds’ best player so far this season.
He is the club’s top scorer, while he leads the team in shots (3), key passes (2.1) and dribbles (2.3) per game (as per WhoScored).
As a result, he has been one of their few bright sparks in what has been a major comedown of a season following the dizzying heights they hit back in 2020/21 during their first year back in the Premier League.
In comparison, even though he plays in a slightly more defensive role, Kalvin Phillips has only managed to average 0.6 key passes per game this season.
And those performances are earning him plenty of plaudits – with former Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool winger Cole one of them.
Speaking about him on BT Sport before Leeds United’s 3-3 draw with Aston Villa – a game where Raphinha was arguably not at his best – Cole felt that he was in contention to be the best player that was currently near the bottom of the Premier League table, and that there would be plenty of teams looking to sign him this summer, suggesting it was a move the 25-year-old should make.
He said: “Proper talent. I think this lad’s as good a player out of any of the bottom six teams, I think he’s probably the most talented player. Plenty of suitors will be in for him, he’s come to the Premier League – he’s scored goals, assists, goal involvements, he does everything, he’s a real technician, he’s a real pleasure to watch.
“I think there won’t be another player in the bottom six or seven teams that’d be more sought-after than him come the end of the season. Because he’s playing in a team which sometimes struggles, he has to do a lot of work as well. I think you put him in a team in the top eight, and you will see his levels will go up even more.”
TIF Thoughts on Joe Cole’s comments about Raphinha at Leeds United…
Will Raphinha leave in the summer?
Yes
No
There was, of course, plenty of interest in Raphinha during the January transfer window, with Sky Sports claiming that there were ‘a number’ of clubs that were chasing his signature.
And it will be interesting to see what happens with the club between now and the end of the season, because if he carries on his impressive form, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Cole’s claim come true that lots of teams will be after him.
If Leeds are in a relegation battle deep into the business end of the season and not looking like they’ll make any progress up the table, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see Raphinha tempted by a move up the table in order to move on in his career.
So let’s hope that Leeds have a strong end to the season to show him that he has something to look forward to next year, or his head might start to get turned elsewhere.
In other news: Shocking: Leeds ace criticised after losing possession a whopping 23 times