Who is Raphinha? Strengths and weaknesses of Leeds' winger arrival
Leeds put in a fine account of themselves in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City and the general consensus remains that the Whites will remain a Premier League team beyond this season. The 2019/20 Championship champions have added top-flight experience from across the continent during the window, bringing in Rodrigo to bolster the attack and securing the services of Robin Koch and Diego Llorente from Freiburg and Real Sociedad, respectively, to solidify the backline.
However, despite the permanent capture of Helder Costa from Wolves and return of Jack Harrison on loan, Leeds were a little light out wide coming into the death throes of the transfer window, or at least they were until they added Raphinha to the squad.
The Brazilian arrives from French side Rennes on the back of a solid debut campaign, where he scored five and provided three assists for the Ligue 1 outfit. Meanwhile, Raphinha made a fine start to 2020/21 having scored one and assisted two as Rennes kicked things off with four wins and two draws from their opening six league outings.
Of course, the departure of Raphinha is a blow, and for that to come in the same window Edouard Mendy swapped France for England, is a further dent in their chances of a top four finish. As such, Rennes' loss is very much Leeds' gain. One of Leeds' weaknesses was a lack of strength in depth in wide areas, but Raphinha ensures the club remains competitive on the wings.
Starting from the right, Raphinha will often look to cut infield before going for goal, noted in that five of his six league goals since the start of 2019/20 have been with his left foot. He does so while being capable of beating a man where required, too, with his 59 successful dribbles the 14th best since the start of the 2019/20 Ligue 1 campaign to reinforce a strength of 'dribbling'.
The issue is that a success rate of 43.1% is relatively low with Raphinha attempting 137 dribbles in that period. He's a traditional winger in that sense, which will excite Leeds fans and while there is room for improvement in this department, Raphinha is set to work under a manager who'll help take his game to the next level.
What's crucial to his game is that Raphinha has an end product, which can often be found wanting in nippy wingers. Indeed, the former Sporting player has created 11 clear-cut goalscoring opportunities since the start of the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season, that the sixth best in the division. Take out PSG players, and he rises to third behind Wissam Ben Yedder and Dimitri Payet (both 12).
And while he has a favoured approach of cutting inside and going for goal, Raphinha is able to get in behind defenders, break to the byline and put a ball into the box to great effect. Of the 151 players to attempt 25 or more crosses since the start of last season, Raphinha's cross success rate of 29.4% is the 29th best in Ligue 1 and for a Leeds side that has developed statistically calculated WhoScored strengths of 'creating chances through individual skill' and 'attacking down the wings', the Rennes star seems to tick the right boxes for Bielsa's side.
Having netted in Rennes' 2-2 draw with Reims at the weekend, earning the WhoScored man of the match in the process, Raphinha seemed a man with a point to prove ahead of his move to Elland Road as he gave supporters of the French side a reason to celebrate a solid stint in France and Leeds fans a glimpse into what he can offer on the back of his arrival.
