Raphinha's Challenge at Barcelona: A Fight for Fitness and Position

At Barcelona, Raphinha still has one powerful ally: Hansi Flick.

The new coach has nailed his colours to the Brazilian’s mast from day one, backing his talent through the lean spells and the long, frustrating weeks in the treatment room. Flick believes there is a top-level winger still in there, the same player who once ripped up defences with pace, aggression and end product.

But belief alone does not clear space on a team sheet.

Faith in Raphinha, but a crowded left flank

Raphinha’s story at Barça has been repeatedly interrupted by the same cruel theme: his body. A hamstring problem in his right thigh has never quite gone away, flaring up often enough to keep him below his peak. The most alarming sign came on international duty, when he again felt physical discomfort while playing for Brazil at the World Cup. For a player who relies so heavily on explosiveness, every twinge carries a question.

Inside the club, the message is clear. Barcelona want to recover the best physical version of Raphinha, to get him back to the level everyone knows he can hit. The medical staff and coaching team see that as a priority.

At the same time, the sporting department has moved aggressively to make sure they are not left exposed if those hamstrings say otherwise.

Anthony Gordon: the statement signing

Enter Anthony Gordon, and with him a very different kind of pressure.

Gordon does not just compete with Raphinha. He mirrors him. Similar technical profile, similar zone on the pitch, and the same preferred habitat on the left wing. This is not a depth signing; this is a direct challenge.

The price tag underlines it. The deal reached 70 million euros, with another 10 million in potential add-ons. For a club still wrestling with financial constraints and obsessed with balancing the books, that is a heavy, deliberate bet. You do not spend that kind of money to park a player on the bench.

Gordon can operate across the front line, even as a centre-forward if needed, but Flick’s transfer priorities tell their own story. The coach has pushed for a pure No. 9, a true penalty-box striker. That suggests he sees Gordon first and foremost as a winger, and specifically as a left-sided one — the very territory Raphinha usually patrols.

The message is subtle, but unmistakable: the left wing is no longer anyone’s private property.

The kids are not waiting their turn

The pressure does not stop with Gordon.

Jesse Bissiwo is accelerating up the inside lane. At 18, the Belgian is officially a project for the future, yet Barça do not intend to hide him away in youth football. The plan is to integrate him as a first-team player from now, even if his squad number is technically assigned to the reserves.

If he takes his chances, he becomes another live option on that same flank, another name in direct competition with both Raphinha and Gordon. For a senior international already fighting his body and his form, the emergence of a fearless teenager is another reminder: nothing is guaranteed.

Adeyemi, the flexible wildcard

Then there is Karim Adeyemi, adding a different twist to the puzzle.

The German is at his most dangerous on the right, cutting inside onto his stronger foot, but his numbers at Borussia Dortmund show he is no stranger to the left. He played 43 of his 146 games there, enough to prove he can handle the role when asked.

For Flick, that versatility is gold. Adeyemi can flip flanks, adjust to the game state, and occupy the very corridor that Raphinha once considered his own. Every tactical tweak, every in-game switch, is another small erosion of any sense of entitlement to that position.

A battle on two fronts

Raphinha’s fight at Barcelona now runs along two tracks.

One is physical: restore his body, banish the recurring hamstring doubts, and rediscover the sharpness that convinced Barça to sign him in the first place. The other is competitive: stare down a 70-million-euro signing, an ambitious teenager and a flexible international forward, and still emerge as Flick’s first choice on the left.

He has the coach’s confidence. He has the talent. What he no longer has is time or space.

In a squad being steadily upgraded, with the left wing turning into one of the most hotly contested areas on the pitch, the question is no longer whether Raphinha is trusted — it is whether he can stay fit and decisive enough to keep everyone else at arm’s length.