Real Madrid, beware: Red-hot Raphinha is back and proving to be more than a one-season wonder for Barcelona | Goal.com Malaysia

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A difficult adaptation

It's funny to think about it now but Barcelona very nearly got rid of Raphinha during the summer of 2024.

He'd underwhelmed in his first couple of seasons at the club but still had a reasonable market value, so the cash-strapped Catalans seriously considered selling him to fund a move for Nico Williams.

Raphinha was also open to leaving - and not for the first time. He'd thought about walking away during a "very challenging" start to his Barca career.

"My adaptation to the club was difficult," the €60 million (£50m/$66m) signing from Leeds United confessed in an interview with RAC1. "I knew it was something that had to happen, but not that it would be so difficult on a personal level.

“This moved my head a little, I sometimes thought about leaving - not at the end of the season, but in the first half of the season. Barca is a huge club and it is normal for it to be difficult [to adapt]. But I wasn't used to that [kind of struggle]."

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Ready to leave Barcelona

By the second half of his second season, Raphinha was beginning to find his feet - he's admitted that the three goals he scored during the Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain represented a turning point - but the slight upturn in form only made his departure more likely, as it generated more external interest in his services.

However, Barca's decision to sack Xavi and replace him with Flick changed everything.

"I was thinking about leaving Barca again after the 2024 Copa America," he revealed in an interview with Globo Esporte. "Every day, there were rumours about me signing for one team or another.

"Things didn't go as they should have; I had a worse season than expected, and I saw people asking me to leave, while reports of my departure surfaced daily.

"I seriously considered leaving. I wasn’t feeling mentally comfortable until Flick called me."

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Tempted by Saudi Arabia switch

Raphinha spoke to Flick twice: first on the phone; and then again in person before the start of pre-season. Before those conversations, the product of Porto Alegre who had cut his teeth playing in Brazil's famous varzea tournaments was seriously tempted to accept the life-changing money on offer to go play in Saudi Arabia.

"I've been playing football since I was 15," Raphinha explained to ESPN. "I've been through good times and bad times everywhere, so there came a point when I thought it was time to take care of myself and my family.

"It would have solved not just my personal life, but also the lives of my parents, my son... a lot of people."

Flick, though, convinced Raphinha to stay at Barcelona - and is now incredibly grateful that he did so.

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The Flick factor

Raphinha has openly admitted that he was a little frustrated by the way in which he was utilised by Flick's predecessor, Xavi. He had no issue doing his part defensively. But he felt he was being asked to drop too deep. And stay too wide. The net result was that he didn't feel as involved in Barca's attacking play as he would have liked.

"I'm a player who really likes to score and assist," he told La Liga's official website. "I know that the closer the goal is, the more opportunities I have to score or pass, whereas when I'm a little further away on the wing and it can be a little more complicated."

Now, though, Raphinha is central to Barca's game plan - so much so, in fact, that when he's not there, he's painfully conspicuous by his absence.

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Pushy but passionate

Barcelona had their fair share of injuries during the first half of the season but Flick had no issue admitting that he was "particularly sad" about Raphinha's unavailability. "He's so important for us," the German said, "because he's the one who puts the pressure on."

Indeed, when it comes to work-rate, Raphinha very much leads by example. But he never shuts up either, constantly calling for greater intensity from his team-mates.

"I often feel like I'm being a bit pushy, maybe too much," he admitted in an interview on TikTok. "There are many times when the other guys think I talk too much, that I'm annoying, and that I demand too much from them - but that's just who I am.

"I demand more from people who I know can give much more. Someone has to, and I accept this responsibility. Then, in the dressing room, we hug and celebrate the victory."

Barca could well be celebrating another victory in Jeddah on Sunday night, as they couldn't be in a better shape going into the New Year - and Raphina's return is one of the main reasons why.

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'We will improve'

Barca have lost four games in all competitions this season. Raphinha missed three of them through injury, and began the other on the bench. He's also started seven times since recovering from the hamstring problem that sidelined him for two months. Unsurprisingly, Barca won each and every single match, with Raphinha directly involved in eight goals.

He's also become such an influential figure in the dressing room that his mere presence on the pitch lifts those around him. "Having Raphinha with us is a huge pleasure, especially for the young players," Barca left-back Alejandro Balde said recently, "because he always offers a lot of advice."

Raphinha, though, can even be a source of comfort and encouragement for Flick. During the laboured win over Alaves back in November, he went to reassure his concerned coach, who was sat on the Barca bench looking visibly emotional. "We will improve," he told Flick. "We will be much better in the upcoming matches." And Raphinha was right.

Barca are presently on a nine-game winning run in all competitions and Wednesday's 5-0 rout of Athletic Club in the Spanish Cup semi-finals felt like a statement of intent. Unsurprisingly, Raphinha was key, creating two goals and scoring one himself. It was the kind of decisive display that he'd delivered on a remarkably regular basis last season and suggested that 2026 might actually be an even bigger year for the Brazil international than 2025.

He's described winning the Champions League as "a personal challenge", and lifting the World Cup as his "biggest dream". However, Raphinha has also admitted to being driven by the disappointment of not getting the recognition he felt he "deserved" after the best season of his career - and that's arguably no bad thing for Barcelona.

Flick was spot on when he said the 29-year-old being left out of The Best FIFA Men's 11 was "a joke" but the Blaugrana could end up having the last laugh, because whereas Madrid winger Vinicius Junior has yet to recover from his 2024 Ballon d'Or blow, Raphinha's revenge mission is already looking like it could be a spectacular success.