"He's always the player who starts the dynamic to press, but also when we have space, he started in the right moment in these spaces, and it helps us a lot," kata Hansi Flick.
Pelatih asal Jerman tersebut juga menyukai sikap Raphinha yang selalu ceria karena aura positif itu dinilai sangat penting untuk mendongkrak kepercayaan diri skuad Blaugrana.
"He also always smiles; this is what I like the most, he's always positive, and it's important for him to be positive, this is the big thing – then you have confidence to give 100% on the pitch," tutur Hansi Flick.
Di sisi lain, Raphinha mengaku geram terhadap pemberitaan media Spanyol yang dinilainya sering mengarang cerita bohong mengenai adanya pertemuan internal untuk membahas masa depannya di Camp Nou.
"Ever since I arrived at Barcelona, from day one there's been speculation that I'm going to leave this club.
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I think people don't really like seeing me here. Especially the press...
there's one guy who just tells lies," kata Raphinha kepada ESPN.
Penyerang Timnas Brasil ini menegaskan bahwa dirinya tidak pernah menyatakan ragu-ragu terkait masa depannya di klub Catalan tersebut kepada pihak internal.
"The (journalist) who wrote that article (about a possible departure) has also written other things about me that were lies, saying that i met with the club, that i spoke to people internally and said i was undecided, that i didn't know if i would continue or not (at barcelona).
That guy only tells lies, every time he posts some news he has to leave out some irrelevant things that come out of his mouth," ujar Raphinha menambahkan.
Kendati demikian, besarnya nilai ekonomi dari proposal Arab Saudi yang pernah datang sejak beberapa tahun lalu diakui sempat memengaruhi pikiran sang pemain demi kesejahteraan keluarga besarnya.
