Barcelona superstar’s former teammate recalls early signs of brilliance – ‘He was skinny but…’ | OneFootball

Patrick Bamford has opened up about his first memories of Raphinha during his early days at Leeds United.

Speaking on Ben Foster’s popular podcast The Cycling GK’s Journey, Bamford offered a very honest and simple view of what it was like when the Brazilian arrived at the club.

Bamford explained that usually, when new players joined Leeds, they looked decent but often needed time to adapt. That was not the case with Raphinha.

“With most players signing for Leeds, the feeling you get is that they look good, but that they will need their time.

“You think, ‘They’re not bad.’ But Raphinha’s first workout was like, ‘This guy is good. Like, very good,’” Bamford recalled.

Raphinha came from the French side Rennes and did not have much of a reputation in England at the time. Bamford admitted that he did not know much about him back then.

“He came from Rennes, I didn’t know much about him… And I remember I was very skinny.”

Raphinha’s aerobic power left a lasting mark

Bamford and Raphinha played together at Leeds United. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

One of the qualities that impressed Bamford the most was Raphinha’s incredible fitness. Bamford spoke about a conversation he had with Ruben, a Spanish coach on the rehab team at Leeds.

“I was talking to Ruben, who was part of the rehab team, and we said, ‘obviously technically he’s good, but what has helped him work the most with Flick is his aerobic ability. That ability to go on and on.”

Bamford then highlighted a key stat. Under Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds players were expected to run around 900 metres at high intensity during matches. Raphinha, however, was regularly hitting over the desired mark.

“When we did the GPS tests, with Bielsa on the bench, everyone showed a high level: around 900 meters at high intensity. But he could do it with 1,300 every time. In every game, he could do it,” he noted.

Source: SPORT