Rafael Leao San Siro AC Milan Italy
San Siro Inter Milan
According to a report in Teamtalk, Milan might be forced to sell Rafael Leao and the winger could be available for under €100 million starting from next month.
Leao’s current contract expires in 2028 and ideally, Milan would love to keep him at the club for one more season. However, their failure to qualify for the Champions League could force them to sell key players and Rafael Leao could be one of them.
Barcelona and Arsenal have been in constant contact with the winger’s representatives and this fresh report claims that Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are all interested in the Portuguese international.
There’s no doubt that Leao is a top talent and any team would love to have him on board but even slightly under €100 million, the 25-year-old remains an expensive target. We take a look at which one of the interested clubs is most likely to get their hands on Rafael Leao should he leave the Serie A.
Rafael Leao to England:
In the Premier League, Arsenal have major ambitions because they want to compete for the title next season but currently, the Gunners are prioritising other left-wingers. Arsenal are focusing on Nico Williams and only when they fail to land him, will Andrea Berta shift his focus to Leao.
Chelsea can afford to pay €90-odd million for the 25-year-old but they too have other targets in mind. The Blues are being linked with players such as Anthony Gordon, Rodrygo and Garnacho among other left-wingers. However, they have been linked with Leao for a long time and Enzo Maresca won’t mind having him on board.
Manchester United have missed out on European football and there’s no way they will be able to meet AC Milan’s demand. Also, Leao will not want to play for a team that is not even in the Europa League next campaign.
Is Spain a likely destination?
Barcelona have been strongly linked with Rafael Leao but the Catalans will also find him expensive and Hansi Flick would much rather prefer that his club go after Nico Williams who has a €58 million release clause.
The club has also shown a major interest in Liverpool’s Luis Diaz and the South American will be available for less than what Milan are demanding for their winger.
Barca should be able to abide by the FFP rules meaning they will have money to spend but after what they have just gone through, Deco and Laporta will not want to make unwanted and inflated signings.
Will the winger choose the Bundesliga?
Leroy Sane could be on his way out of the club and if that happens then Bayern will be able to free up a lot of their wage bills for next season.
Some rumours suggest that Milan will accept a fee as low as €75 million and if that’s the case then Bayern will become very strong candidates to land the Portuguese international. Also, if they fail to land Florian Wirtz (€150 million), the Bavarians will have a lot of spare cash which they can use to sign players like Rafael Leao.