Leeds United have secured their final signing of the summer transfer window in the shape of Rennes forward Raphinha.
The Brazilian moved to Ligue 1 after a spell in Portugal with Sporting, and will now sample a new league in England. Marcelo Bielsa has been keen to bolster his options in midfield and attack in the final few weeks of the window, but he was left frustrated when a deal for Michael Cuisance fell through due to a failed medical.
But with thirty minutes of the window remaining, Leeds club confirmed his arrival.
With that in mind here are five things we've learned about the Brazilian.
He got his big break in Portugal
Born in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil, Raphinha began his career with Avai. He would spend one year as a senior professional but did not appear in the league, instead catching the eye of Vitória de Guimarães in the Copa Paulista.
The Copa Paulista is a competition organized during the second half of the season. It is contested by the São Paulo state teams not competing in the league and the reserve sides of those teams in Serie A.
After joining Vitória in February 2016 he started with the club's B-team but was quickly promoted to the senior squad after a string of good showings.
2017/2018 was his breakout season
Raphinha took time to adjust to Portugal, but by 2017/2018 he was showing why Vitória were so keen to sign him.
He finished the campaign with 15 goals and five assists in 32 games, at which point he completed a €6.5m move to Sporting. The deal had been agreed in January, but the player saw out the rest of the campaign with Vitória.
Speaking on his decision to join Sporting, he told Trivela : "I take a lot of into account the human side of people, the will of the person to want you to be present, to place you within the plans of the club, that you are not just one more.
"So, what happened to me was that they had a good project for me together with the club, and that ends up motivating me more to choose one side than the other. This is the most important thing, leaving the athlete aside, because you have a human being there. This weighs more on my decision than deciding to go anywhere else where you will be just another player."
He thinks Bruno Fernandes is the most talented player he's played with
That move to Sporting put him in the same dressing room as current Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
He was asked in an interview who he considers to be the most talented player he has played alongside, and he didn't hesitate to single out Fernandes. They two could reunite when Leeds take on Manchester United on December 19.
Fernandes was one of the first players to congratulate him on the move on social media.
He has a famous agent
It's often the case that fans know very little about the people that represent players -- bar the likes of Jorge Mendes and Mino Raiola.
That's not the case for Raphinha. Former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Deco represents the forward, and we was asked about their working relationship during an interview with Trivela .
"We try not to talk about football so much," he said. "Of course we still talk, because it is a joint work that we do, but what he tries to tell me when we talk about it is that I already have the quality, so that I have fun on the field, playing football. It's something I like to do. He tells me to be myself, be happy and have fun."
He was one of Rennes' most expensive signings when he joined
Able to play anywhere across the front line, Raphinha joined Rennes in September 2019 for a fee of €21million, making him the second-most expensive player in club history behind fellow Brazilian Lucas Severino.
Severino cost just €300,000 more than Raphina and had a significantly better time of things with Rennes (Severino managed only six goals in 72 games).
"I prefer to leave these things outside the field with Deco, with my father, and I try to focus only on playing football, having fun," he said of the cost. "It is normal for me to know the values, I am very happy for the value, for this importance of being one of the most expensive signings in the history of the club, but I prefer to leave these matters to my representatives.
