Raphinha is finally playing like a €60m winger - there's no better time for Barcelona to cash in and sell the Brazilian this summer

Club president Joan Laporta showed little hesitation in heaping praise on Raphinha when the Brazilian signed in 2022, telling Spanish media: "All of us who have lived through golden times at the club, there were always Brazilians. He takes the baton of illusion and magic. From the club, we think that the beautiful game is coming back. It's Xavi who has loved him, he has insisted a lot, and the club has done everything they could."

This was a mutual sort of attraction. Raphinha had offers from elsewhere - notably Arsenal and Chelsea - but spurned both to come to Camp Nou. And although Laporta's claims may have been lofty, there was enough about Raphinha's two seasons at Leeds United to breed excitement among the Blaugrana faithful.

The winger was a key part of Marcelo Bielsa's expansive side that earned admiration from the rest of English football in the 2020-21 campaign, as they finished in the top-half of the Premier League as a newly-promoted club. He was even better the following year, his attacking impetus and creativity proving crucial as Jesse Marsch's Leeds narrowly avoided relegation after a mid-season slump led to Bielsa being sacked. Leeds didn't want to lose their best player, but Raphinha wanted to leave, and Barca were willing to pay.

In his introductory press conference, Raphinha, too, was adamant that he could be a success in Catalunya: "For me, it is an enormous pride to be here, I want to thank everyone. I have many idols who have passed through here and have made history. If I manage to do half as much as them, I will already do a lot. It is a child's dream that I'm doing it, my family too. I'm going to do my best for Barca."

But there was something ominous about the move. Such were the Blaugrana's failing finances that Raphinha was handed a shirt without a name or number due to registration concerns. Meanwhile, chatter ran rampant that he was supposed to be a replacement for the already struggling Ousmane Dembele. Xavi insisted that he wanted to keep both players - hoping to breed competition for starting spots on a team that was admittedly short on wingers.

Either way, Raphinha would be making a step up in quality. Leeds may have been an exciting, attacking side, but this was a Barca team expected to compete for La Liga - and retooled via the kind of financial trickery undertaken by a club in win-now mode.

The growing pains, then, were inevitable. Raphinha didn't have a poor first season at Barca, but he never really settled, either. He wasn't helped by Dembele, who finally found form in Catalan colours towards the end of 2022 after nearly three years of transfer rumours, nearly-exits, and frustrating showings.

Xavi's Barca were humming, and Dembele's resurgence meant that Raphinha seldom had opportunities to impress at his preferred right-wing position. He managed a tidy six goal contributions before the World Cup, but floated in and out of the line up, and appeared uncomfortable playing out of position on the left.

He was handed a chance to impress when Dembele picked up a muscle injury in the second half of the campaign, but was inconsistent over that period. Robert Lewandowski's goals rather dried up when Raphinha came into the fold, and Barca certainly lacked the zip on the wing that the Brazilian was meant to provide. There was little shame in Raphinha finishing a league campaign with seven goals and seven assists, but given how much Barca had both paid and fought to sign him, many felt underwhelmed.

Dembele's departure to join PSG in the summer of 2023, however, should have provided Raphinha with the chance he needed to play consistent minutes and finally show his true potential. Instead, he was sent off in Barca's opening game of the season against Getafe, and then picked up a muscle injury that allowed teenage wonderkid Lamine Yamal to step into his shoes and show exactly why he was regarded so highly within La Masia.

Things, though, have recently turned around for Raphinha. It started with Xavi, who steadily worked the Brazilian back into the fold at the start of 2024 to allow Yamal's young legs to have a rest. Since mid-February, the Brazilian has been a key contributor, starting seven straight games, and has been directly involved in eight goals over that time.

His brace against PSG may have been the headline performance, but Raphinha has impressed the last two months. He was vital as a languid Barca found their swagger against Getafe, scoring and assisting in his first start in over a month, while he was also crucial to the Blaugrana's last-16 win over Napoli in the Champions League, providing two assists as they deposited the reigning Serie A champions at the Olympic Stadium.

Further highlights have since followed, including an assist in a comfortable win over Atletico Madrid, and the decisive goal as the Blaugrana beat Las Palmas. The real Raphinha has finally arrived.

But this might not be the best time for Raphinha's resurgence to have taken place, at least if he wants to stick around past this summer. The Brazilian is, indeed, starting to justify his price tag, but the same lever-pulling that allowed him to sign for the club in 2022 has now forced Barca into making some tricky financial decisions ahead of the summer.

Despite Laporta's most creative stretching of the rules, La Liga has further reduced Barca's spending limit ahead of next season. Their squad is now twice as expensive as it should be, limiting their spending power in the months to come. It is not as simple as 'sell to buy', but Barca certainly need to get some cash off the books, and ideally make some money from player sales, too, if they are to strengthen in pre-season.

That leaves them with something of a quandary, especially given that they have relatively few assets who will deliver a handsome return who are also worth selling. The new wave of talents out of La Masia should be untouchable, while veterans such as Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan won't fetch much of a return. Raphinha, though, is 27 and is starting to show that he can be a key player for a team playing deep into the Champions League. Those are not traits that come on the market very often.

The emergence of NXGN 2024 winner Yamal has only further complicated things for Raphinha, too. The 'new Messi' tag is unfair on the teenager - not least because Yamal doesn't really play like the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner - but Barca haven't graduated an electrifying talent of his mould from their academy in years. It's dangerous to pile expectations on players so young, but one only has to glimpse at five minutes of Yamal to know that he is special. There is real world-class potential here - if he isn't there already.

And the record-smashing 16-year-old is out to make Raphinha's life more complicated. Yamal simply has to play, and needs to operate on the right wing to show his best. A player this good this young cannot be misused or asked to do something that he isn't good at.

Raphinha, then, is the one who has to adjust, and he has done so of late. Xavi used Raphinha as an advanced No.10 on a few occasions, and has even switched him to the left-wing in order to accommodate for Yamal. His best position, however, remains cutting in from the right. The issue is, Barca look to have someone who is both better and younger than the Brazilian doing that job already.

So, Barca are left with a choice. Raphinha has done his 18 months of bedding in, and only now has become a fixture of the side, with it clear that the former Leeds man could be an impact player for Barca's new manager next season.

In any normal circumstances, the club would do well to hold onto Raphinha. After all, top-class attacking players don't grow on trees. Anyone good enough to play for Barca - and be a match-winner doing so - is worth keeping around.

But thisn't really a footballing decision anymore, and Barca have to think practically. They are at a point of operating on the margins, pinching pennies, and squeezing every last bit of value they have out of their flawed but talented squad.

A look at the accounts, a glance over the squad, and acceptance of reality suggests that Raphinha is ultimately, and unfortunately for him, expendable. Barca are his dream club, and he has only just started to star for them. But this is a cruel system, and with every match-winning goal, Raphinha boosts both Barcelona's chances this season, but also their opportunity to balance the books this summer.