Barcelona have suffered a blow as they confirmed that winger Raphinha suffered a hamstring injury in their victory over Sevilla on Friday, but there is some positive news.
The Brazilian was starting to find his form, having scored a superb goal against Mallorca on Tuesday, but is now set to miss the next few matches with injury.
A £55m signing from Leeds United, Raphinha has impressed at times, but has failed to find consistency and has a lot of competition for a starting spot on the right wing.
Raphinha’s injury
Barcelona have confirmed that Raphinha is now injured, and will be unavailable for the coming games, with a recovery date currently unclear.
However, journalist Achraf Ben Hayed has now claimed that the club are optimistic he will be ready to return after the October international break.
“Optimism regarding Raphinha, the feeling within Barcelona that he will return after the international break,” he tweeted.
Barcelona are set to travel to Porto for a Champions League game before another away trip to Granada before the break, but Raphinha could now be back for the visit of Athletic Club on October 22nd.
Barcelona’s right-wing depth
Raphinha actually started as an interior against Sevilla, with Lamine Yamal occupying his natural position on the right wing.
Ferran Torres is also in good form, and can start on the right in Raphinha’s absence, but the question now remains of the midfield structure.
Oriol Romeu was dropped, with Raphinha joining the midfield and Ilkay Gundogan and Gavi taking up deeper roles. Romeu may now have to return, with Pedri and Frenkie De Jong also currently injured, but on the wings, Xavi has enough depth to cope for now.
Raphinha will hope to return soon, as the longer he spends out, the more difficult it will be for him to regain his place ahead of Yamal or Torres.