Stan Collymore raves about Raphinha amid latest Leeds United exit speculation
Stan Collymore is not surprised to see Leeds United winger Raphinha linked with moves to some of the biggest clubs in the world.
The Sunday People reported via their print edition on 20 February [page 56] that Raphinha has been linked with Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
And Collymore feels Manchester City may well join the clubs queuing up to sign the 25-year-old Brazil international too because of how good he is.
“The fact Raphinha keeps getting linked with such as Manchester United and Liverpool does not surprise me one bit and not would it if Manchester City were in for him, either,” said Collymore in the print edition on The Sunday People [20 February, page 58].
“I always think of him picking the ball up midway through opponents’ halves and then breaking down doors, breaking through lines and creating things with pace and skill.
“Any club in the world would want a player capable of doing that.”
Any club in the world
Could Raphinha play for any club in the world?
If you look at Manchester City and Liverpool, there’s no denying that he would struggle to start consistently with the talent that they’ve got in his position on the right-wing.
But if you look at Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United then you can see a way for Raphinha to get into their starting line-ups on a regular basis.
Away from the Premier League, there are teams like Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus who could all end up being linked with Raphinha at some point.
He might not be a regular for PSG and Bayern with Lionel Messi and Thomas Muller obviously the better picks there but for everyone else, yes, he could do a job.
Raphinha is one of the hottest properties in global football and you have to give massive credit to him, Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa for that.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay says this low-earning Leeds player cannot force his way out of the club in the summer.