Ex-Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has claimed that Raphinha is good enough ‘to nail down a place’ in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI if he does make the move to Merseyside from Leeds United.
Despite Barcelona now appearing to be favourites to sign the Brazil international, the Reds have been linked with a move for him for some time and Johnson clearly thinks the winger is good enough to shine at Anfield.
“I think he’s good enough to nail down a place in the starting XI. I think if you sign for a bigger club, then you’ve got to expect to fight for your place,” he told Bettingodds.com (via Liverpool Echo).
“I think he is good enough to bang the door down and I do believe he will get enough game time at Liverpool. Bear in mind that if he does go to Liverpool then they’re going to play twice as many games as Leeds do.
“However, I do believe he will get his game time and I think he’s good enough to nail down a place in the starting 11.”
Liverpool were reportedly willing to offer cash plus Takumi Minamino in order to secure the former Rennes man’s signature, a offer that is believed to have been turned down by the Yorkshire outfit.
Raphinha prefers a move to La Liga over a switch to Anfield and it does therefore look like the rumours are starting to fizzle out.
The 25-year-old operates on the right-wing, similar to Mo Salah, so it’s rather difficult to see how he would fit into our starting XI, but we played every game possible last season and therefore would offer him the chance to earn enough minutes across the season.
He’s full of skill, pace and energy, but it looks as if our main priority is securing the signature of Benfica’s Darwin Nunez with the 22-year-old set to complete his medical next week.
surely if you sign Darwin you must sign Gumball too?