Jamie Carragher makes Raphinha claim after Leeds win

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Jamie Carragher has told Monday Night Football (broadcast on Sky Sports; 8/2; 22:08) that Raphinha looks like a real player after watching his display in Leeds United’s win over Crystal Palace.

Raphinha seemed to steal the show at Elland Road. The winger produced a scintillating performance as the Whites won 2-0.

He produced an outstanding moment of skill in the first-half to nutmeg Gary Cahill with a backheel. The only option the Palace defender was left with was to haul the 24-year-old down.

Raphinha also played a key role in the second goal. It was his strike that was palmed into the path of Patrick Bamford. And after the game, Bamford raved about the Whites summer signing (via Sky Sports).

Carragher was hugely impressed by the run Raphinha made the second goal, before describing a moment from his own career that came to mind following Bamford’s comments.

“You see that shot there, that’s a typical run of a wide player. Penetrating run in behind that we talk about. Salah, Mane, Sterling, all the great wide players, they make that run. And he does,” he told Monday Night Football.

“He’s got quality on the ball. He does look like a real player. I think we mentioned before the game that he’d been involved in seven goals in the last eight games so he’s always a huge threat.

“That’s always telling when your teammates know as well just from training sessions [referring to Bamford’s comments]. As soon as Xabi Alonso came to Liverpool, you could tell in the session. As a dressing room you sort of step back and think ‘we’ve got one here’. And it sounds like that’s what the Leeds dressing room did.”

Firstly, it is exciting for Leeds fans to hear Carragher to draw parallels between Raphinha – who earns £28,000-a-week, according to Tuttomercatoweb – and some of the best wingers in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, it is also remarkable that Bamford’s recollections of his first impressions of Raphinha remind Carragher of how he felt when Alonso arrived at Anfield.

Of course, Carragher is not comparing the two players. But signing Alonso was a masterstroke from the Reds. So if Raphinha can have the same level of impact at Leeds, landing the wide-man will certainly be looked back upon as a defining moment for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.