€50m Barcelona player can start with the captain’s armband for the first time against Getafe | OneFootball

Ever since arriving at FC Barcelona in 2022, Raphinha has quietly worked his way to become one of the leaders of the Blaugrana dressing room. The high price that the Catalans had to pay for him made it difficult for Raphinha to justify his performances in the last two seasons, but the critics are gradually coming around to appreciate the efforts made by the Brazilian.

In the last two seasons, he got to double figures in terms of goal contributions, as he had 10 goals and 12 assists to his name in the 2022-23 season and another 10 goals and 13 assists in the 2023-24 season. This season, the €50m-rated Brazilian forward has already scored 5 goals in six La Liga matches and is one of the two players who has played all the possible minutes.

His leadership role in the dressing room is also clear as he is one of the captains of the team for this season, and is always available for help, especially for the youngsters. In fact, SPORT reports that he can be the player who dons the captain’s armband for Barcelona in the coming match against Getafe.

He took the armband once Ter Stegen was replaced in the match against Villarreal, but against Getafe, he might get to wear it from the very start of the game.

The team elected Raphinha and Pedri as their two new captains for this season, and they are the fourth and fifth captains respectively. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, the first captain of Barcelona, is injured and expected to remain unavailable for the rest of the season.

Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong, the second and third captains, are also recovering from injuries and neither of them is expected to be available for the game against Getafe.

Thus, if Flick decides to start Raphinha against Getafe, he will be the one to wear the captain’s armband for this match. However, the matches are coming thick and fast for Barcelona, and as Raphinha has already played all the possible minutes up to now, the German coach might decide to rest him for this game.