7 G/A in 4 games – Champions League’s 2nd best player is an Arsenal transfer target and he’ll be looking to impress again tonight | OneFootball

Barcelona winger Raphinha will be looking to build on a remarkable record in the Champions League this season as he prepares to take on Brest in this evening’s game.

The Brazil international has five goals and two assists from four Champions League appearances so far this term, and in general he’s surely up there with the most improved players in Europe after this major improvement we’ve seen since Hansi Flick became Barcelona manager.

Raphinha was once a star player at Leeds United as his dazzling displays lit up the Premier League, prompting Arsenal to show an interest in him (as per the Telegraph) before he ultimately ended up moving to the Nou Camp.

The Gunners are being linked with Raphinha again now as a recent report from Fichajes claimed that the north London giants could try offering as much as €90m to try to bring him back to England.

Arsenal would clearly be doing very well if they could land the 27-year-old, who is now surely far too important for Barca to consider letting go.

Raphinha celebrates a goal for Barcelona (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Still, with AFC lacking alternatives to Bukayo Saka, while the form of players like Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard has dipped, these new links make sense.

Could Raphinha help bring Champions League glory back to Barcelona?

It’s been a relatively lean period for Barcelona in Europe’s top club competition, and they’ll be desperate to get back to their best in this tournament under the guidance of Flick, who has a recent win with Bayern Munich to his name.

The German tactician guided Bayern to the treble in the 2019/20 season, and he’s now made a really promising start at Barcelona, with his ability to get the best out of Raphinha looking key.

Could the Brazilian winger now be the Catalan giants’ main man as they look to win this trophy for the first time since 2014/15? With the kind of stats he’s produced so far, it seems like he’s really the stand-out player in this team.

As per WhoScored, Raphinha has been statistically the second best player in the Champions League this season, behind only Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, who has played fewer games.

It’s still early days in this new-look edition of the tournament, but there have been promising signs so far for Barcelona, and Raphinha will be looking to further establish himself as their MVP with another shining display tonight.