Phil Hay believes that Leeds United summer signing Luis Sinisterra will be a top replacement for Raphinha.
It was widely expected that Sinisterra, who had just registered 37 goal involvements across all competitions last season, would arrive at Elland Road to sufficiently replace now Barcelona ace Raphinha.
However, a hamstring injury in pre-season has seen him spend most of his short Leeds career in the treatment room, although a packed-out Elland Road on Wednesday night against Barnsley saw what he was capable of with a stunning goal and a mazy run into the box to win the Whites a penalty.
After watching Sinisterra vs Barnsley, Hay is confident he will be a good Raphinha replacement as he spoke about on The Phil Hay Show.
(13:21) “He was pretty much the shining light when it came down to individual flair if you needed something from nothing, Sinisterra was the player who was going to do it for Feyenoord.
“Again like with pretty much everybody who’s moved to Leeds this summer, certainly the more established first team players, it was hard to find anybody in Holland who didn’t think that Leeds were getting a good player for the money they were paying.
Will Sinisterra turn out better than Raphinha?
Yes!
No!
“I think it’s feeling like a slightly slower process with Sinisterra to get totally up to speed, Aaronson, Adams and Roca seem to have just exploded right from the off, Sinisterra had the injury in pre-season which hasn’t helped, but I think he’s going to be good, I think as a replacement for Raphinha he might be a good fit.”
TIF Thoughts on Sinisterra at Leeds…
It will have been very frustrating for Sinisterra having to watch his new team hit the ground running this season and pick up impressive wins against both Wolves and Chelsea, all while he couldn’t even make the bench.
However, it is indeed a very congested season this time around due to the mid-season World Cup, so Sinisterra will certainly get his chance and whenever he’s afforded minutes, if he makes an impact as he did against Barnsley, it won’t be long until he is handed starts by Jesse Marsch.
Sinisterra looks very good it must be said. Lets have more of the same in the league please Luis!
Sinisterra is a left winger & likes to come inside onto his stronger right foot, Rapha played on the right as an inverted winger. So not a replacement as such.