The current go-to phrase for Brazilian attacker Rayan is that Bournemouth have “discovered a gem”.
But that feels a little misleading. After all, Rayan cost a fee of up to £24.7million ($30m). Almost every other club knew about the electric forward who won the Revelacao award in the Brazilian top flight last year, succeeding the two previous winners of the award, Endrick and Estevao. Many other clubs were seriously interested. But scouting isn’t solely about finding an unknown footballer and realising he’s got some talent. It’s also about assessing, from relatively few matches, whether almost £25m is a reasonable price to pay for a 19-year-old from halfway around the world.
This wasn’t about discovering Rayan; it was about believing in him. Bournemouth took the plunge while others hesitated. And, on the evidence so far, it feels like they’ve got a bargain.
Many feared for Bournemouth when they lost Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City, a departure marked with a memorable last-minute winner against Tottenham, but that was actually Bournemouth’s first win in 12 matches. Semenyo wasn’t the problem, but perhaps the side had become too reliant on him. Rayan in for Semenyo has refreshed the side, with roughly half the transfer fee left over.
OK, we’re only five games in — and against West Ham and Sunderland, Rayan hasn’t provided a goal contribution in two drawn matches. But in the latter game, played yesterday, the extent to which Bournemouth constantly looked to the Brazilian to offer attacking spark was telling. Whenever goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic had the ball, he kicked long towards Rayan, rather than to Bournemouth’s centre-forward.
That made sense. Rayan is formidable in the air; his goal against Everton came when arriving at the right time to power home a back-post header. And if he doesn’t feel like a natural winger, it’s because he’s not. Considered more of a centre-forward in Brazil, he’s being blooded out wide, in part because that’s where Bournemouth have a vacancy.
In the central attacking positions, Andoni Iraola can pick from Eli Junior Kroupi, Evanilson, Justin Kluivert and Enes Unal, and sometimes — like here — he uses only one, plus an attacking midfielder just behind.
So Rayan is out wide. His debut came as a substitute down the left away at Wolves, where he dribbled into the box and then played a low ball for Alex Scott to turn home. His first start came down the right the next weekend against Aston Villa, when he bombed inside to leave Lucas Digne literally standing, and blasted home inside the near post.
Granted, that was bafflingly bad defending, but full-backs have to cope with a player who already seems to have everything. He’s explosive over short distances. His long-range shots pack tremendous power, thanks to his considerable calf muscles. He’s a good crosser and set-piece taker. He’s predominantly left-footed, but is also happy going down the line and using his right.
As you’d expect from a Brazilian attacker, he’s got some trickery in his locker, often trying to beat defenders with a quick right-left combination to throw them off balance. But there’s little sign of showboating; Rayan is all about efficiency, which isn’t always the case for young talents coming out of South America.
Rayan was influential against Sunderland (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Just as Bournemouth looked to him at every opportunity, Sunderland tried to double up whenever possible. The big beneficiary of that was Bournemouth’s right-back Alex Jimenez, a solid performer all season, but particularly prominent when his direct opponent is more concerned with Rayan than him.
Even as the game against Sunderland was meandering to a 1-1 draw, Rayan was the player most likely to win it. Deep into stoppage time, he won the ball high up the pitch, laid it off, and then ran to the edge of the box and hoped the ball would come his way. It did — and his shot might have bounced into the net had his team-mate Unal not got in the way.
That seemed to be Bournemouth’s last chance. But then Rayan got the ball again, cut inside, and his swerving long-range shot was slashed narrowly wide by a defender for a corner. And at that corner, Rayan was given some detailed instructions by a team-mate, and was entrusted to deliver the ball into the six-yard box. Bournemouth couldn’t find a winner.
It’s not clear what those instructions were — and it’s worth remembering that Rayan barely speaks English. For now, maybe that’s a good thing. “He doesn’t feel the pressure. He doesn’t understand a lot of things that people say about him — he doesn’t speak the language,” Iraola said before the game.
It might be worth Rayan working on his English skills, and not just because of his Bournemouth duties — more performances like this, and the young Brazilian might just be spending his summer in the United States.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti has lots of other talented attackers at his disposal, but Rayan already has the all-round game that more experienced players can only dream of.