Two years ago the Brazilian thought his time at Barcelona was ending but, two La Liga titles later, he is now captain and the most potent No 9 in Europe.
F or once, Raphael Dias Belloli puts the brakes on.
“This is the best decision the club has made,” said Hansi Flick, the head coach Raphinha says changed his life.
The first word Raphinha uses when training has finished and the tape starts rolling at Sant Joan Despí, when he is addressed as the world’s top No 9, is “false”. Seven games into the league season, the man filling in at centre-forward has scored 12 goals, plus two in the Champions League.
The press defines Barcelona’s identity and it is, Raphinha says, “mechanised”.
Yet this is not what Raphinha or anyone expected.
Raphinha did not score but Barça got five.
Raphinha scored two against Elche, one against Athletic, two against Rayo and another at Valencia. Raphinha showed his old qualities and new, less expected ones: the movement, timing and clinical finishing of a classic No 9, efficiency to go with the intensity.
The point of Raphinha is that it is not even about him.
By 2024, Raphinha was convinced he had no future at Barcelona. His numbers were good: 10 goals and 12 assists in his first season, 10 goals and 13 assists in his second.
A Photoshopped image of Williams in his No 11 shirt on social media hurt, Raphinha said.
Flying in from the left, Raphinha scored 34 goals and provided 26 assists in 57 games.