According to a report from Football Insider, Liverpool's scouts have been all over the progress of Leeds United winger Raphinha since he arrived in the Premier League.
The reigning league champions are struggling without the influence of Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota and are looking to pad out their attacking roster. The report claims that the Reds' attention has shifted to the 24-year-old Brazilian, who has taken to life in England's top flight like a duck to water, and that they are "assessing potential attacking options for next season going into the main summer window".
Leeds must keep hold of Raphinha
A lot of the pressure falls to Patrick Bamford when it comes to scoring Leeds' goals. The Englishman leads the tally for his side's goalscoring contributions with 11 goals and five assists. Behind him is Jack Harrison with five goals and four assists, followed by Raphinha with four goals and four assists, as per BBC Sport.
The winger's input is highly important to the Whites, who are making it their utmost priority to avoid facing a trip back to the Championship, and have enjoyed the kind of campaign that has them looking up the table rather than back down.
Liverpool are looking for back-up to support superstars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah and Raphinha is one of their main interests ahead of the summer transfer window. The £60,000 per week wide-man has featured in all but one Premier League match since he arrived at Elland Road, showing how vital he is to Bielsa's set up.
Further to this, Noel Whelan also waxed lyrical about the flying winger, saying: "He is quick, direct and good with both feet. He is a player that can open up defences and has an eye for goal. That is definitely the sort of player that Marcelo Bielsa likes and it is great that he can play on either side.
"He has bags of pace and is a danger going forward. What I like is that he can also do the horrible side, that is exactly what is required in a Marcelo Bielsa side."
Indeed, according to WhoScored, Raphinha averages more shots towards goal per match and completes the highest amount of dribbles compared to attacking teammates Jack Harrison and Mateusz Klich, and that's an indication of just how much intent and directness he has played with in his debut campaign in English football.
As you can see, he also has the highest overall rating thanks to his impressive performances on the wing, even despite scoring fewer goals than Harrison. Victor Orta can't afford to let the £17m summer signing leave just one year after starting his Leeds journey, especially seeing how he has already shown plenty of potential and developing into a fine Premier League winger.
It's exactly why Orta should do everything in his power to stop Liverpool getting their hands on him. Bielsa's only just beginning to work with the Whites' summer signing, and it would be a real shame if he was allowed to go before the Leeds boss really worked his magic.
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