Highlights
- Leeds United have been scouting an exciting winger in South America.
- His style of play marks him out as a perfect replacement for Raphinha who left for Barcelona.
- The player’s goal and assist record throughout 2023 is seriously impressive.
Leeds United have picked up their form significantly in the Championship, the Whites’ slow start to the season now forgotten about with Daniel Farke’s men sitting pretty near the top of the division in third spot.
Last time out, Leeds even managed to dent Enzo Maresca’s formidable Leicester City’s unbelievable start to second-tier life – Georginio Rutter poking the ball into the net off a rebound to give his team a 1-0 win at the expense of the table-topping Foxes, Maresca’s side only suffering their second defeat of the season on the night to Farke’s in-form team.
The Whites have now only lost one of their last six matches, with games in that impressive run such as the 4-1 Elland Road demolition job at the expense of west Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town showcasing Leeds at their very best especially in attack.
Crysencio Summerville is a figure Championship defenders cannot handle at the moment – the Dutchman scoring six goals in 12 on top of assisting a further four – whilst Joel Piroe, Dan James and the aforementioned Rutter form the other components of a deadly attacking quartet for the promotion hopefuls.
Still, Leeds could be in the market for another lively attacker in the form of Jhon Arias from Fluminese if reports are correct.
Although, the second-tier giants aren’t the only club interested in the Colombian winger’s services…
Leeds transfer news
TEAMtalk are reporting that Leeds are pursuing a possible deal for the explosive 26-year-old, hoping that they might have stumbled across their next Raphinha in the process after their former beloved Brazilian winger departed for Barcelona last year.
Arias has generated interest from a whole host of clubs however, with West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Wolves and even Rangers all potentially tussling it out in January to sign the attacking midfielder.
It’s no real surprise to see such avid interest in the Fluminese man, with Arias starring over a number of years out in Brazil for his current employers.
How Arias compares to Raphinha
Arias often plays as if the ball is glued to his feet, gracefully dribbling past a number of opponents with ease without ever losing momentum or focus.
These mind-bending runs will draw obvious comparisons to Raphinha who also made skilful darts up the field look effortless with the Whites, terrorising Premier League defences when pulling on a Leeds strip.
The Colombian’s end product is deadly for Fluminese also, justifying his impressive showboating more times than not.
He has 26 goals and 30 assists from 130 games for the Rio De Janeiro-based club, including nine goals and 13 assists just this year in all competitions.
It’s even led to Arias representing his nation as a result, capped by Colombia ten times off the back of his continued exploits in Brazil.
According to FBRef, Arias draws further similarities to ex-Leeds star Raphinha in terms of his overall attacking play with the Fluminese man receiving 11.47 progressive passes per 90 over the last year contrasted with Raphinha’s slightly higher 13.54.
Both Arias and the Brazilian also enjoy being involved in the attacking build-up as much as possible, with Arias attempting 56.22 passes per 90 compared to his Barcelona counterpart who attempts a lesser 51.75.
This season in their domestic leagues however, Arias is proving his worth more so for his Brasileirão based club than the former Leeds man at the Camp Nou – Arias pulling off double the goal-creating actions of Raphinha this season, Arias coming in at six to Raphinha’s three.
Farke will be keen to add Arias to his ranks in order to provide back-up and competition to his in-form attackers at Elland Road, with fans of the Whites excited by the prospect of a player potentially joining the club who has shades of their former Brazilian hero’s attacking game present.
