Raphinha signs Barcelona renewal until 2030 and beats Messi's scoring start in LaLiga

Raphinha Dias is enjoying the best form of his career. The Brazilian, who has just secured his continuity at Barcelona until June 2030, marked the moment with a perfect hat-trick against Sevilla that also broke a historic barrier: his 12 goals in the first seven LaLiga matchdays go beyond Leo Messi's best scoring start in the competition.

• Raphinha extends his Barcelona contract for two more years, until 2030.
• He has 12 goals in 7 LaLiga matchdays and leads the top scorer race.
• He surpasses the 11 goals Messi scored in the first seven matchdays of 2017-18.
• Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Echevarría have started a LaLiga season better in the modern era.
• The Brazilian could match a record held by Langara and Zarra if he adds a third straight hat-trick.

Raphinha moves past Messi's mark and closes in on LaLiga history

He arrived at the club in the summer of 2022 as a right winger and reinvented himself when Lamine Yamal took over that flank. Now, with Lewandowski and Ferran Torres gone and no Julián Álvarez in the squad, Raphinha has embraced the centre-forward role that Flick handed him. And not just any kind of striker: his numbers are already breaking marks that seemed reserved for the greatest goal specialists.

Against Sevilla, the Porto Alegre attacker produced a perfect hat-trick with one goal on his right foot, one on his left and one with his head. Those three strikes took his league tally to 12 goals after seven matchdays, one more than Messi managed in the opening stretch of the 2017-18 campaign, when the Argentine reached 11 in the same period.

12 goals in 7 games: only two players have ever started a LaLiga season better

Raphinha's start puts him level with four other famous names in Spanish football, according to the statistical records circulating after the weekend. Mariano Martín reached that number with Barcelona, Pruden with Atlético de Madrid and Campanal with Sevilla, all in 1940-41; Quini did the same with Sporting in 1979-80.

Only two players sit above him. Cristiano Ronaldo hit 13 goals in the first seven matchdays of the 2014-15 season, while Echevarría reached 14 with Oviedo. The Brazilian is getting closer to that historic summit and shows no signs of slowing down.

The Getafe challenge: four goals needed to catch Cristiano Ronaldo

After the international break, in which Raphinha will travel with Brazil for friendlies in Australia and India, Barcelona host Getafe at the Spotify Camp Nou. A major mark is within reach: in that 2014-15 campaign, Cristiano Ronaldo raised his tally to 16 goals after eight matchdays. To match it, the Brazilian would need to score four times in that game.

Even if that overall figure remains out of reach, Raphinha can still chase another personal milestone. Another hat-trick against Getafe would make him the first Barcelona player to score three consecutive trebles. Neither Messi nor Luis Suárez ever achieved that, and in Spanish football history only Langara, with Oviedo in 1934-35, and Zarra, with Athletic Club in 1946-47, have done it.

Centre-forward efficiency: 14 goals from 19 shots on target

Raphinha's production across the whole season, including the Champions League match against Feyenoord, is even more impressive. He has attempted 22 shots, only one has gone off target and two hit the post. Of the 19 efforts that were on target, 14 ended up in the opposition goal.

Those are percentages historically associated with finishers such as Romario, Ronaldo, Messi, Cristiano, Suárez, Lewandowski, Haaland or Kane. Raphinha's presence in that conversation is no accident: his accuracy and decision-making in the box have made him Flick's main attacking solution at Barcelona.

Raphinha steps into the striker role and leads Barcelona's title push

His emergence as the team's attacking reference carries extra value for Barcelona. With Lewandowski and Ferran Torres out of the project and the move for Julián Álvarez never completed, the German coach needed an immediate answer at the top of the attack. He has found it in a player who turns necessity into goals.

Raphinha is not only the outright Pichichi leader in LaLiga with 12 goals, but he is also keeping Barcelona in the title race with a consistency rarely seen from a player converted into a number nine. His form arrives just as the club secures two more years of his contract.

Frequently asked questions about Raphinha's form