Rafael Leao’s representatives have formally approached multiple top Premier League clubs about a summer transfer, with TEAMtalk confirming that Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have all been made aware of the Portuguese winger’s availability and that AC Milan’s valuation has been set at approximately €50 million, a figure that makes him one of the most commercially attainable elite wingers on the summer market.
The change in Milan’s position is significant and worth understanding clearly. They have not surrendered the player. The Italian club’s preference remains to keep Leao, who still has two years left on his contract following a recent extension, but their openness to discussions at €50 million signals a commercial flexibility that did not exist six months ago and that reflects a recognition that the winger’s profile has attracted enough high-level interest to generate genuine competition.
Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke provided the clearest market assessment on his Transfer Insider podcast, saying: “It won’t be a cheap deal to do. You’re probably looking around the £50 to 60 million mark for Leao, who’s got into the last two years of his contract at the San Siro. So look, Milan I think would be open to a potential move away from the winger if the right offer comes in for him. United are looking for that position, and I’m sure he’s one of a number of players that’s on that long list.”
Manchester United’s interest has the most tangible structure attached to it at this stage. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that United are prepared to include Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, or Marcus Rashford as makeweights in a deal to reduce the cash element, an approach Milan responded positively to given their own attacking rebuild under Massimiliano Allegri, with Zirkzee in particular representing a player who impressed at Bologna before a difficult United experience under Ruben Amorim.
The Rashford dimension of any United offer is complicated by his ongoing Barcelona situation. Leao’s agent Jorge Mendes also represents Rashford, creating an intersection of client interests that Mendes would need to navigate carefully. Barcelona remain unwilling to trigger the £26 million permanent option for Rashford despite Hansi Flick’s support for the player, meaning Rashford’s availability as a makeweight is itself contingent on outcomes that have not yet been resolved.
Arsenal’s interest frames Leao as a potential left-flank alternative to Gabriel Martinelli, whose future at the Emirates has been the subject of sustained speculation and whose inconsistency this season has given Mikel Arteta genuine reason to explore alternatives in the position. At £43 million to £60 million, Leao would represent a significantly cheaper acquisition than the Nico Williams pursuit that Arsenal’s most ambitious summer scenario involves.
Chelsea’s motivation is different again, with the club in an interim management situation and seeking Premier League-proven wide players as Calum McFarlane and the incoming permanent manager both acknowledge the need for attacking reinforcement. Leao’s Premier League experience is zero, but his quality has been consistently on display across Champions League campaigns that have brought him into contact with the defensive standards of English football’s elite clubs.
Liverpool’s inclusion in the group approached is the most surprising entry given their existing attacking depth, though the summer departures of Mohamed Salah and potentially other fringe attackers could create vacancy in the wide positions that Leao’s combination of pace, skill, and direct goal threat would address, particularly given Slot’s preference for high-energy attacking players capable of contributing to the defensive pressure his system requires.
Milan registered 80 goals and 65 assists across 288 appearances from Leao, an exceptional individual record in Serie A that has established him as one of the better wingers of his generation on his day. The qualification attached to that final phrase is the one his detractors return to consistently: brilliance alongside games in which his influence is limited and the creative output that his talent suggests he should deliver more consistently remains frustratingly absent.
Whether any of the four clubs who have been approached convert interest into formal bids depends on several variables resolving simultaneously in the coming weeks, including the status of each club’s managerial situation, the progress of alternative target negotiations, and whether Milan ultimately decide the €50 million open door is a real invitation or simply a market-testing exercise designed to establish interest without genuine intent to sell.