Raphinha: How Leeds United ended up signing the current Barcelona star and Ballon d'Or contender in 2020

Between 2020 and 2022, the winger was a talismanic figure for the Whites and was crucial in the club’s successful survival bid in his final campaign.

It appeared likely he would eventually go on the pastures new, especially when he started to become influential for Brazil at international level.

Barcelona came calling and nearly three years later, the 28-year-old is a contender for this year’s coveted Ballon d’Or award.

He has struck 28 goals in 47 appearances, reportedly fuelling interest from the likes of Manchester United.

According to former Leeds analyst Andres Clavijo, who also acted as a translator for Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa, interest in Raphinha was piqued during a left-back hunt.

He told Sky Sports: "That was a little bit of a problem position for us. I did a video of Nice versus Rennes and Raphinha absolutely tore the Nice left-back to shreds.

“Marcelo saw it and said to me ‘who is this player?' I said ‘that is Raphinha, he has had an unbelievable season, helping Rennes to qualify for the Champions League.'

"I remember saying to him, ‘he is probably way out of our budget because I am sure they will not let him go for anything less than £30m after the season he has had.' They had just bought him from Sporting the season before for around £20m.

"But I think Marcelo then contacted Victor [Orta, director of football]. Victor reached out to Rennes and they said it was impossible but it came about in the last couple of days of the window. It was crazy that we pulled that off. We could not believe our luck."

It did not take long for Leeds supporters to realise the club had a special talent on their hands. Despite his debut campaign being played out behind closed doors, he quickly became a firm favourite among supporters.

Clavijo said: "He is by far the best player that I have had the pleasure of being around. He is crazy talented but his work ethic is unbelievable,.

"From the first day, he was just incredible in training. If you talk to any of the boys that were there at the time, they will tell you how good he was in training.

“He was just on a different level to everybody else. But the work rate is really what surprised everybody. His physical numbers were out of this world. It was just incredible."

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