Flick: Raphinha is Barcelona’s ideal dressing-room leader as new deal hailed

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick says renewing Raphinha’s contract was the “best step” for the club, describing the Brazil forward as the ideal leader for both the team and the dressing room.

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to maintain their perfect start to the La Liga season.

“His level is extremely high and we know his quality,” Flick told the club’s channel. “He is a top-class player. Lamine Yamal provided the final pass and he scored. Moving him into the centre-forward position was a decision made by the coaching staff, and he is happy playing as a number nine.”

Flick added: “For the club, renewing Raphinha’s contract is the best step. Raphinha is the ideal leader for this team and this club. His season has been amazing, and the second half was much better.”

Barcelona sporting director Deco announced on Saturday morning that Raphinha had agreed a contract extension with the club until 2030.

Barcelona moved to 21 points at the top of La Liga after seven wins from seven matches. Sevilla remain fifth on 13 points.

“It was a difficult match, especially in the first half,” said Flick. “We did not play at the level we wanted.”

The manager also confirmed that Andreas Christensen will be out for several weeks with a muscle injury and will undergo further tests on Sunday.

On his decision not to select Wojciech Szczesny, Flick said: “It was a decision I made just for this match. It is the most difficult decision I have had to make at the moment. It is not easy, but it is my job.”

Raphinha’s three goals against Sevilla came with his head, right foot and left foot. He became the first Barcelona player to achieve that since Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick against Cordoba in 2015.

It was also Raphinha’s second consecutive treble, after he scored three times in Barcelona’s previous match against Racing Santander on match day six.

The 2026-27 La Liga campaign has seen Raphinha score 12 goals. He is the third player in the 21st century to reach that figure after the first seven matches of his team’s season in the competition.

Lionel Messi scored 10 goals for Barcelona after seven games in 2011-12 and 11 in 2017-18, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 13 for Real Madrid in 2014-15.

Raphinha leads the La Liga scoring charts, five goals clear of Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona team-mate Lamine Yamal.

Yamal provided his 51st assist in 159 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions, becoming the youngest player in La Liga to reach 50 assists since at least the 2013-14 season, aged 19 years and 68 days.

The previous record belonged to Vinicius Junior, who registered his 50th assist for Real Madrid in May 2023 at the age of 22 years and 298 days.