Raphinha makes mockery of Barca transfer push & thrives after disrespectful rant

From a Premier League relegation battle at Elland Road to scoring a Champions League hat-trick to down Bayern Munich.

That is the path trodden by Raphinha after he took centre stage in Europe on Wednesday night. The Brazilian stuck the knife into the German giants with a stunning individual display that begun with a goal in the opening minute.

It was a perfect response to those who doubted him - some of whom exist within Barcelona's metaphorical four walls.

Raphinha was a big name signing at the Nou Camp just over two years ago but had only delivered in moments prior to this campaign. That almost persuaded the Barcelona hierarchy to dip back into the market in the summer as they watched Nico Williams excel at the Euros. They were leading the race for the Athletic Bilbao ace - with the No.11 shirt currently worn by Raphinha even supposedly being readied for one of the stars of Euro 2024.

In the end Williams remained at San Mames and Hansi Flick, the new man in charge at Barcelona, has taken quite a liking to Raphinha, even making him captain against Bayern. And my word how the player has paid back that faith.

The ex-Leeds man has played in 13 games so far this term - the joint most of anyone in the Catalan's squad. In that time he's scored on nine occasions - second only to Robert Lewandowski. Is he being fuelled by anger and frustration? Well perhaps he is - even if he denies it.

Raphinha wasn't shy in claiming he felt disrespected by certain individuals when links with Williams continued. The 27-year-old referenced a social media post that featured a Barcelona fan holding up a club jersey shirt with Williams’ name and Raphinha’s number on the back.

He said: “Yes, I saw a picture in social media with someone printing a Barca shirt with Nico Williams and my number at the back. I left a comment in that post because I think it was disrespectful. People need to keep their respect to the players from the club who try to do their best for the shirt. It did not sit right with me and the work I do here.

"But in the end people can do whatever they want.”

Raphinha though followed that up by saying: “This wasn’t a special motivation for me to be honest. I think my desire to perform at my best also arrives after knowing the contract years I have left with the club. If before I was working at 100 per cent, now I’m at 200 per cent.”

The Brazilian is on course to deliver the best goalscoring season of his career. The player has always had the talent to excel at the top level. It took a matter of weeks for Leeds to realise they had something special when Marcelo Bielsa signed the winger from Rennes.

His efforts in two years in Yorkshire caught the attention of Europe's finest. Rarely do the likes of Barcelona keep tabs on an individual who was 90 minutes away from being a Championship player. Bielsa claimed early on that the winger was "a complete player." He's now showing the Argentine certainly wasn't wrong.

And Barcelona are finally seeing that on a consistent basis. Rarely do players singlehandedly take Bayern to the cleaners. In fact it had been nine years since a player scored twice against the Germans in a single half of Champions League football. That was Neymar in 2015.

Fast forward to today and, once again, a Brazilian international wearing the blue and red of Barcelona was at it once more. The Spanish giants chose to spend the bulk of their summer budget on Dani Olmo - one of Williams' Spanish team-mates who also excelled at the Euros.

It meant there was limited funds to pursue Williams, who himself was keen to remain in Bilbao. Whether by luck or by design, Raphinha remained the main option on the wing for Barcelona once the summer transfer window ended.

It seems to be working out well for all involved.