Late last month, with Lionel Messi out injured and a vital Champions League tie with Inter Milan upcoming, the focus around Barcelona was on who would replace the Argentine genius on the right of their three-pronged attack. Ousmane Dembele, the troubled, unpredictable, but sometimes brilliant Frenchman signed for over €100m from Borussia Dortmund was the obvious choice. Then there was Malcom, the Brazilian winger brought in from Bordeaux who had not yet been given much of chance to show what he could do. Everyone, it seemed, had overlooked Rafinha Alcântara. Everyone that was, except manager Ernesto Valverde. Thrust into the team to raised eyebrows, Rafinha shone. The son of Mazinho, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 1994, and younger brother of Spain and Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcântara, Rafinha has been at Barcelona since he was just 13. Over the eight seasons since he made his first-team debut, however, he has rarely been able to secure a consistent place in the side. After taking a while to warm into the Inter match – not surprising given how few minutes he had played so far in the season – he started to drift into dangerous attacking positions and was duly rewarded with a goal after 31 minutes, expertly finishing a wonderful cross from Luis Suarez. It was one of those twists of fate that football is so good at providing and felt like an enormous statement from a player who the Blaugrana had been trying to sell to Internazionale in the summer. Rafinha spent the second half of last season on loan at the Milan club, performing well and expressing his desire to make the move permanent. Presented with the option to buy the Brazilian for €35m last summer, however, the Nerazzurri refused, preferring instead to invest the cash into the services of Radja Nainggolan.