Leeds United have had their fair share of entertaining forward players over recent years, with last campaign seeing the Whites boast Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter in attack.
That is a ridiculous duo for the level of the Championship, as the electric pair ended up making the testing division their playground at points, with a combined goal and assist haul of 55 mustered up between them in all competitions.
Unfortunately, both top-drawer Whites players departed after promotion was amazingly not reached, with Leeds used to the grim reality of exceptional aces moving on from West Yorkshire after the collective team have failed to meet their expectations.
Raphinha's time at Leeds
One notable example of this kind is Raphinha’s exit from Elland Road in 2022, after he had dazzled many a spectator on a regular basis in his new surroundings with devastatingly effective displays in attack.
The Brazilian attacker would go on to score 17 goals and pick up 12 assists across 67 appearances in England, with 14 of those goal contributions still managing to come about even as the Whites narrowly escaped relegation during the 2021-22 season.
Raphinha would ultimately go on to win a dream move to Barcelona after standing out as a diamond in Jesse Marsch’s relegation-threatened side, winning the Whites a bumper £55m in the process.
Lauded as a “magician” by one of his ex-teammates in Daniel James when still at Leeds, the enigmatic South American leaving did open up a hole that the Whites would need to plug, but that was a task that was always going to be difficult.
Summerville and Rutter did arguably excite and enthral the Leeds masses in a similar way, but more would have been expected of this Whites flop, considering he was labelled just last year as possessing a “touch of magic” by Farke.
The Leeds player who could have been the next Raphinha
The player under the spotlight here is Ian Poveda, who has gone from being an “incredible” talent in the eyes of Pep Guardiola to someone who is now on the books of table-topping Sunderland after leaving the Whites.
“He has an incredible power to develop. For the way Leeds play suits perfect for his qualities.” – Pep on Poveda.
It was a bumpy ride for the Colombian in West Yorkshire in truth, with the unpredictable attacker snapped up from the Manchester City youth system in 2020 known as a flair player designed to entertain the masses watching on.
He would score plenty of sublime individual goals playing on youth pitches for City, hammering home 15 strikes playing for both the U18s and U21s, before a move to Leeds came to be.
A left-footed right winger like Raphinha, it was that stunning level of quality above and his ability to skin opposition defenders that drew understandable comparisons between the two, with the Brazilian’s career average of dribbles per game sitting at 1.3 and Poveda’s at 1.2 underlining their similar play styles.
Unfortunately, Poveda just couldn’t dazzle defences like he did for City when lining up for the senior Leeds side, with zero goals from 30 Whites appearances.
Blackburn Rovers (loan)
10
1
2
Blackpool (loan)
26
3
2
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)
10
0
1
Sunderland (permanent)
3
0
0
Picking up just a paltry assist – a far cry from the form of Raphinha’s at Elland Road – his time spent away from West Yorkshire didn’t exactly go to plan either as many loan spells up and down the EFL ultimately passed him by.
He has also been troubled by injury issues over the course of his underwhelming playing days, with the former Arsenal youth product only fit enough to make three first-team appearances for Sunderland to date, after Farke and Co allowed for the 24-year-old’s contract to just run down.
Poveda could find that a consistent run at the Stadium of Light sparks something out of him when his injury demons aren’t in his way.
But, as much as Leeds wanted Poveda to be their next superstar from South America – akin to Raphinha – the move is now seen as a major disappointment.
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