Phil Hay: Leeds winger Raphinha is ‘genuinely’ world class
Athletic journalist Phil Hay has found some new superlatives to describe Leeds United winger Raphinha.
The Brazilian is playing on a different level at the moment and Hay called him a “freak” (in a nice way) in a fan Q&A after the game against Southampton on Tuesday night.
Raphinha scored the third in a 3-0 win at Elland Road but could have had more and definitely should have had some assists.
Talking about Jack Harrison, who was subbed off at half-time, Hay quickly moved onto Raphinha.
“Harrison has been off the boil in the past two games but that’s going to happen from time to time,” Hay said.
“That’s the whole point of a squad – someone else steps up. Raphinha is a freak in the sense that he looks like he can do this in every game. Off the scale.
“Raphinha was unbelievable again tonight. Such a talent.
“I genuinely think world-class is fair with regards to Raphinha. He’s that good.”
Bargain of the summer
Leeds United paid £17m for Raphinha. Much less than West Ham paid for Saïd Benrahma.
When you talk about good business, this is it, and he could well be the biggest bargain of the last summer window.
It’s another feather in the cap of Victor Orta, who has seen a massive upturn in his transfer dealings since Marcelo Bielsa arrived at the club.
It’s not hype to say that Raphinha is worth over three times what Leeds paid for him and we think some clubs might test Leeds’ mettle over the summer if he carries on playing at this level.
Raphinha was given an 8.3 rating from WhoScored in the Southampton game, .2 less than their man-of-the-match Stuart Dallas.
We think Dallas had a great game but Raphinha was head and shoulders above the rest for us.
He’s already up there with Kalvin Phillips as an absolutely key player for United and we hope that Leeds can hold onto both of them for next season.
We expect them to. The owners have a plan for Leeds and it doesn’t involve selling our best players.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay delivers blow as Leeds player picks up muscle injury ahead of clash v Aston Villa