FC Barcelona want to sign a left winger this summer as long as he can and, following the arrival on the Barça bench of Hansi Flick, coach of Bayern to the treble in 2020, Kingsley Coman’s name was circulated as one of the candidates to strengthen the squad. In the last two seasons, that position is regularly occupied by the Brazilian Raphinha is a star among Barcelona fans, but it is also true that his figures are really worthy. In fact, In the same season just ended, Raphinha scored 13 goals and distributed 10 assists in 1,950 minutes of the official competition on the field of play, divided into 37 games. With these numbers, Raphinha has already bettered Coman’s best yield in its most productive period to a Bayern more powerful than what has become contemporary Barça.
The French winger has signed his most profitable campaign yet in the 2018-19 season, when he contributed 10 goals and 7 assists to Bayern in 1,928 minutes spread over 30 games. This is the only time in his career that Coman has reached the 10 goal mark. Raphinha did this in the two seasons he dressed as a Barça player: in 2022-23 he scored 10 goals and 12 assists in 2,924 minutes. Analyzing it another way, even if the general perception of a Barça without titles destroys the individual memory of all members of the squad, it can be said that Raphinha’s second season at Barça was, numbers in hand, superior to the first. One piece of information is, in this sense, especially revealing: with 1,000 fewer minutes, Raphinha scored the same goals and provided another assist, for a total of 20 goals and 25 assists in his 87 games as a Barça player.
On the other hand, it’s true that Coman has a more confrontational style than Raphinha, although that doesn’t mean, based on the numbers, that he does more damage to opposing defenses.
The same age as Raphinha, 27 years old, Coman is also coming off an injury-hindered season. There were 129 days of absence in the 2023-24 academic year after suffering muscle problems, a torn internal knee ligament and an adductor ailment. Raphinha has also suffered muscle injuries this season which kept him out of the field for 58 days, and yet his contribution has not diminished compared to his first season. Another thing is that when he signed from Leeds in the summer of 2022 in exchange for 8 million euros and 7 in variables, his potential was overstated.
In his recent appearance at Barça One, Barça president Joan Laporta warned that no one should expect great revolutions in a squad in which he trusts, with another technical direction, to provide a better response in 2024 -25 seasons than in 2023-24. And, although one of the priority positions he will try to support is the left winger, signing is not synonymous with strengthening. The main issue is that if you have to bring in a left-footed winger, you have to improve Raphinha.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
