“I HAD 20 MINUTES TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO JOIN LEEDS – BUT IT WAS THE CHANCE TO FULFIL MY DREAM”
Leeds United, the great entertainers. Leeds United, the neutrals’ favourite? Both sound like clichés of the current season by now, but confused Whites fans are still getting to grips with the admiration for their team in 2020-21.
Whether you think Marcelo Bielsa’s swashbuckling side are vulnerable or brilliant – or perhaps both in equal measure – there’s one thing nobody can disagree on: the role of summer signing Raphinha in their bold return to the top flight.
If English spectators didn’t know about him prior to this campaign, the secret’s out. The 24-year-old, who arrived from French outfit Rennes last October for £17 million, barely needed time to settle at Elland Road before working his magic: Raphinha soon became one of the most influential players in Bielsa’s team, dazzling in a devastating attack with his creativity, set-piece prowess and eye for goal. Within a few months, Leeds’ investment looked like a steal.
In France, the Brazilian was also essential for his former club. His performances helped Rennes to finish third in Ligue 1 last season – the highest placing in their history – to bag Champions League football for the very first time. But that’s where the journey ended for their prodigious wideman: a fortnight before Rennes’ bow in the competition, he was told to meet club president Nicolas Holveck after a league game. Raphinha had netted in the draw against Reims ahead of his rendezvous with the hierarchy, as the transfer window prepared to slam shut.
“They said, ‘We’ve accepted an offer from Leeds, so now it’s your call: do you want to leave or stay?’” Raphinha tells FourFourTwo, chuckling at his awkward predicament. “If I wanted to leave, there was a private flight waiting for me to go to England and undergo a medical before signing the contract. I had 20 minutes to choose.”
As Raphinha explains, a childhood dream of playing in the Premier League helped him to
