Business would have continued as usual at Thorp Arch on Monday morning with recovery the order of the day after an intense three matches in seven days for Leeds United. Whether it was in the pool or on the massage table, Raphinha may have allowed his mind to wander to yesterday, but not for long when there is still work to be done in that white shirt.
It is hard to believe there will be any talk about the future from the 25-year-old this week when he still has a major role to play in keeping a club so close to his heart in the Premier League. Leeds will always be remembered as the stage he used to finally turn heads in his homeland.
Raphinha arrived in West Yorkshire as a rising star in European football, but will leave, whenever that may be, as a key player for the world’s most decorated national team. There are no guarantees he has played his last match at Elland Road, but it was hard to see him propped up against that goalpost after months of transfer speculation without joining the dots.
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Relegation would certainly spell the end of the Brazilian’s stay, but even with survival, an international of his ability with an ambitious agent working for Barcelona is only going to attract suitors offering European football. Raphinha walked away from the Champions League with Stade Rennais for this shot at the Premier League and he has proven everything he needed to.
Talks between his agent Deco and Victor Orta throughout this season have not resulted in a new contract. With Leeds fighting to stay up by the skin of their teeth on the final day, two years remaining on his deal and a World Cup on the horizon, the stars seem to be aligning on a summer payday for the Whites.
Time will tell what happens with Raphinha and, more immediately, Leeds, but the Brazilian was in no rush to allow the moment to escape him after full-time on Sunday. He allowed himself that small window of opportunity to gather his thoughts and drink in Elland Road.
He may just have allowed himself a smile as he considered what he has achieved in that stadium. Propped up at the southern goalmouth, Raphinha was just yards from his single-handed retirement of Gary Cahill, which left the ageing defender with twisted blood after an astonishingly agile assault from the winger.
There was the goading in front of the Brentford fans after Patrick Bamford hit that late equaliser in December, the free-kick against Leicester City, the cut-back to Joe Gelhardt, the free-kick dedicated to Ronaldinho’s mum at the peak of his powers and so many small moments which brought joy. Raphinha was never going to walk away from the last home game of the season and miss that chance to reminisce.
Sunday’s performance was something much closer to the high standards he has set across the past two seasons. If anyone has the ability or audacity to outshine Gelhardt in this race for safety, it’s the single-minded street fighter from Porto Alegre. To Brentford.
