Leeds United star Raphinha is attracting interest after his glorious season, and Manchester United are one of the clubs touted for a move.
The Brazilian arrived in the summer on deadline day for a fee of £17million but has completely blown us away with his ability.
His flair and brilliant out wide have been a joy to watch this season, and he’s raised the bar at Elland Road in our first season back in the Premier League.
With such performance though, inevitably comes interest from the ‘elite’ clubs.
Reports have surfaced throughout the season linking Raphinha with a move to either Manchester United or Liverpool.
Both sides could do with another attacker of his ilk for different reasons, but the Leeds man has stated his desire to be at Elland Road next term.
It won’t stop pundits and other reports linking him with that lucrative move.
Our potential to climb into the battle for Europe should be enough persuasion for him to stay, if not the players around him.
His individual quality certainly deserves European football in the coming years. With that, Owen Hargreaves believes Man United should swoop for him.
On BT Sport’s coverage of Man United’s Europa League clash on Thursday, he stated (quotes via Yorkshire Evening Post):
I don’t think it’s realistic for Manchester United to win the Premier League next season.
They have to find a way to bridge that gap. You bridge that gap by getting another centre-back, getting a central midfielder, and getting a right-winger.
A lot of people have played out on that right hand side and haven’t really found it.
Jadon Sancho would be amazing.
You think about Raphinha at Leeds and what he could do in this United team. There’s obviously levels, and you can’t always spend £100 million on a player.
It’s glaringly obvious that Man United need a right-winger, and Raphinha fits the bill.
That’s where the transfer talk should stop, though.
We’re not in any position where we need to sell, so he’s not going anywhere in the summer. If anything, we’re going to sign more players of his quality.
I can see teams testing our resolve in the comings months though, because he’s been too good not to consider.
We just need to show our ambition though, or he will rightly want to leave for a better opportunity.