Rio Ferdinand blown away by ‘phenomenal’ Raphinha stats at Leeds United
Rio Ferdinand has been blown away by how well Raphinha has done since signing for Leeds United in 2020.
According to stats by BT Sport ahead of Leeds’ trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday night, the 25-year-old ranks first in the Premier League for assists, goal involvements, chances created and possession won in the third final since October 2020.
In a discussion with Joe Cole about Raphinha, Ferdinand raved about the Brazil international’s numbers while Cole said he’ll thrive at a top-eight Premier League club.
“They’re phenomenal stats though,” said Ferdinand on BT Sport 1 [9 February, 07:47pm].
Cole said: “They are. I do think there won’t be another player in the bottom six or seven teams that will be more sought after than him come the end of the season.
“He’s playing in a team that sometimes struggles, he has to do a lot of work as well.
“I think if you put him in a team in the top eight, you will see his levels go up even more.”
Remarkable
We knew Raphinha was good – but that good?
Raphinha’s numbers are scarily good for someone who’s playing for a team down at the wrong end of the Premier League.
Without him, we’d be in the relegation zone, there’s no doubt about it because he’s our only consistent source of goals and creativity.
Raphinha is worth a lot of money now and while so many zeroes can be added to his transfer value – someone is going to pay it.
Raphinha is too good for us to be playing in a Premier League relegation battle – he’s a Champions League star waiting to explode on the scene.
However, if Leeds do have to cash in on Raphinha in the summer transfer window then at least they can make a good amount of money and then strengthen numerous areas of the squad.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay is baffled by this back-to-front Leeds transfer stance.