By David Woods

27th Jan, 2021 | 2:11pm

'Steal of the century' – US journalist claims Orta has bagged Leeds a massive bargain

CBS Sports journalist Jake Winderman has said that getting Raphinha for under £20m amounts to the “steal of the century” after watching the Leeds United attacker against Newcastle. 

Responding to a tweet from Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth, Winderman made the remark after watching Raphinha’s glorious assist for Jack Harrison’s match-winning goal.

Raphinha clipped the ball to Harrison who found himself alone and in the Newcastle penalty area. The finish from Harrison was as good as the ball from Raphinha.

Winderman tweeted, “Raphinha for under 20 million pounds was the steal of the century…beautiful ball there on the goal.”

Smyth responded to the tweet saying, “Agree with that. Rennes should be kicking themselves.”

Elite-level player

Raphinha had to wait for his chance at Leeds, with Jack Harrison and Helder Costa starting out on the wings.

However, Costa was dropped after a poor run of form and he’s been completely forgotten about after Raphinha’s performances.

He’s a different level to Costa and offers a genuine attacking threat from the right – or the left if Bielsa decides to swap him over.

Raphinha’s goal was a thing of beauty last night as he passed the ball into the net from just inside the penalty area.

And his assist for Harrison was just as good.

Weirdly, Rennes sold Raphinha for less than they paid for him a year earlier.

Raphinha said that left him feeling devalued – as quoted in the YEP he said, “I was told that Rennes would only sell me for an offer of 60 million euros, but they sold me for 15 million. I felt devalued.”

Given all of this, and what we’ve seen from him, we think Winderman could be right. What. A. Steal.

In other Leeds United news, Exclusive: Leeds ‘very fortunate’ as player set for PL debut can solve big injury issue – pundit