Ahead of the summer transfer window, Liverpool are reportedly monitoring Leeds United winger Raphinha, who has had an impressive start to life in the Premier League.
According to a recent report from Goal, the Reds are now tracking the winger’s progress with a view to a potential move in the future. The Brazilian only joined Marcelo Bielsa's side last summer for reported fee of just £17million, but his performances and attacking output has seen him linked with a move to Anfield.
The 24-year-old has scored four goals and provided five assists in 18 Premier League appearances so far this season, becoming a key player for Leeds United, who have been one of the surprise packages in the league this season.
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So, what kind of impact could Raphinha have at Liverpool next season? And, would he be a good signing?
To have a bit of fun and try to predict the future, we used Football Manager 2021 to see what could happen next season.
We 'signed' Raphinha for Liverpool in the summer of 2021
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2021 editor to arrange for Leeds United winger Raphinha to join Liverpool in the summer 2021 transfer window, to try and predict his potential impact.
The Football Manager database currently contains data on more than 800,000 individuals and 45,000 active clubs, with data sourced from their international on the ground scouting network which numbers roughly 1,000 people, among their ranks are some who are involved in football in professional capacities, including scouts and coaches.
In addition, each annual iteration of Football Manager has built-in algorithms which check for outliers and data discrepancies. Data accuracy is further ensured by input from contributors who are active within the professional game (players, agents etc.) who provide regular feedback.
This is what Raphinha's profile looks like on Football Manager 2021.
The Brazilian is a talented winger who is comfortable on the left and right, but would he be able to get into the Reds first team?
This is what happened in our simulated 2021/22 simulation.
First of all, whilst the signing of Raphinha was pre-arranged by us, but Liverpool did bring in another two players during the summer of 2021 in our simulation.
Central defender David Carmo was signed from SC Braga and midfielder Renato Sanches was brought in from LOSC Lille, for a combined fee of around £80 million.
The signing of Carmo was necessary because the Reds decided not to exercise their buy option for Ozan Kabak, with Ben Davies sent on loan to Championship side Bournemouth.
Despite Gini Wijnaldum signing a new contract, Sanches was brought in due to Thiago suffering a major knee injury, who was ruled out for the entire campaign in August 2021.
So with the transfer business done, lets get on to the 2021/22 campaign.
Due to the form of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and in particular, Roberto Firmino, Raphinha's game time was restricted, with the Brazilian making 32 appearances in all competitions, of which only 11 were starts.
Despite the lack of game time, Raphinha's output was pretty impressive, scoring five goals and contributing four assists, including five goals and one assist in just seven starts and 12 sub appearances in the Premier League.
The Brazilian failed to make a start in the Champions League though, making six sub appearances without scoring or assisting.
To put the winger's statistics in perspective, lets take a look at Liverpool's top scorers in the 2021/22 season.
Jordan Henderson, Jota, Sanches, Mane, Salah and Firmino all scored more than the Brazilian, largely due to the lower number of appearances.
At the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Raphina got nowhere near the statistically best Liverpool XI, with Mane, Firmino and Salah featuring in the front three spots.
Full best Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson; Sanches, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
So how did Liverpool perform in the Premier League with Raphinha in their squad?
Despite the front three being back in top form and both Van Dijk and Gomez returning to full fitness, Manchester City spent big on players like Lautaro Martinez, Fabian Ruiz and Erling Haaland, with Pep Guardiola's side eventually winning the league by ten points.
Liverpool finished second with 79 points, losing only five games but drawing ten to City's five.
However it would still be a memorable season for Liverpool, as they won the Champions League, beating Napoli in the final thanks to goals from Salah and Mane.
Overall, this simulation threw up a number of interesting points.
It's clear from this simulation that if Mane, Salah and Firmino are in top form, it's unlikely that Raphinha or Diogo Jota would be able to usurp them over the course of a season.
Also, it's likely that City will strengthen significantly in the summer of 2021, so the Reds need to recruit very successfully if they are to mount a title challenge. In our simulation, the signings of Sanches, Carmo and Raphinha could be classed as decent additions, but they didn't exactly transform the side and help it evolve.
However, with these three players brought in, the Reds squad had real strength in depth, which helped them massively in their Champions League campaign, with Jurgen Klopp's side lifting the biggest trophy in club football once again.
As always these simulations are just one way of predicting a player's prospective impact, but it's interesting to see how the game thinks Raphinha could perform for Liverpool if signed this summer.
Football Manager (FM) is the world’s leading football management simulation title. The latest edition of the game, FM21, is out now on PC, Mac, Mobile, Touch and Xbox.
The Football Manager database currently contains data on more than 800,000 individuals and 45,000 active clubs, with data sourced from their international on the ground scouting network which numbers roughly 1,000 people, among their ranks are some who are involved in football in professional capacities, including scouts and coaches.
