Settling for Raphinha could be a pretty good outcome for Arsenal
It's not as exciting as Nico Williams or Rafael Leão but it could stil be a move that makes Arsenal better
As Barcelona persists in their pursuit of the highly sought-after Nico Williams, it's causing a ripple effect within their squad. Raphinha, who has not fully established himself as a regular starter, is now facing the prospect of an even more reduced role under new manager Hansi Flick and is contemplating his alternatives.
The reporting now from Graeme Bailey of HITC suggests that is open to a return to the Premier League, Arsenal were suitors before his move to Spain and still have a need for a player with his skills.
Last season in limited minutes he put up good numbers for Barcelona. Showing that the lack of minutes wasn’t due to playing poorly, just that he ended up behind the phenom Lamine Yamal on the right, behind big loan signing João Félix on the right, and dealt with a few nagging injuries that disrupted his season.
His move from Barcelona to Arsenal probably wouldn’t drastically change his overall standing in the squad (he’s not likely to take Bukayo Saka’s right wing spot) but it might mean that he is playing for a manager that does want him compared to where he is with Flick.
As a player he takes a good volume of shots, averaging at least 2 shots per 90 going back to his first seasons where he broke through in Europe with Rennes. His shot quality isn’t the greatest, having some willingness to take some marginal shots from distance and less than ideal angles but overall he still puts up decent looking shot charts, with a very good clustering of shots in central loactions.
His long shooting also looks pretty good, but not surprisingly he is best when he can get those shots taken closer to the “D” versus the elbow of the box.
His numbers overall for his last 3 years total (including his final year at Leeds) show a good, probably very good player, but one that is just short of the very elite. That isn’t a knock on the player and still makes him a potentially good pickup it just isn’t perhaps the dream signing for Arsenal (or what Barcelona thought they were getting when they signed him).
Raphinha has had some of his shine tarnished but it is still a good player. He’s in’t the perfect fit for the exact role I would want Arsenal to be targeting:
He’s left footed and I would rather have a player that is right footed and prefers the right hand side.
He’s not a high volume dribbler any more but the last season is a bit of an anomaly on that, but dribbles are something that drop off in the mid 20’s for a wide player.
He’s not really a player that will stretch the play, I have always seen him closer to Saka than Martinelli in that regard.
All that said he is still a player that I think would raise the level at Arsenal and help bolster the attacking options. He is comfortable playing on both sides of the field, he has the highly coveted by Arsenal “Premier League Experience” and is a player that the team did like enough to go after.
The £50 million starting asking price tag is a little steep considering that the player is no longer wanted and would almost certainly want to keep something close to his current wages with the prospect of little potential future sale to help down the road.
There is potentially something here, even if it isn’t exactly the most exciting or plan A move.