Liverpool will need to pay €130m (£109.5m) if they want to land Rafael Leao, according to reports in the Italian media.
The Reds are weighing up potential replacements for Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, who have been linked with moves away from Anfield, and the Portuguese international has been identified as a possible option.
TMW claim that Arne Slot’s side have made an “important” enquiry to ascertain the availability of Leao but his club AC Milan won’t let him leave without a fight.
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The Rossoneri are already expected to lose Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City and Theo Hernandez (who is contemplating a move to the Saudi Pro League). With Chelsea now hoping to snap up Mike Maignan as well, the Serie A side don’t want this summer to turn into a fire sale.
Leao has been praised for his performances
Speaking after Portugal’s 5-1 win over Poland back in November, his national team manager, Roberto Martinez, was very complimentary about the forward’s ability:
“Today he showed who he is, one of the best players in the world one-on-one and when it comes to exploiting spaces. There are not many players in the world who could create that opportunity for the first goal.”
Liverpool are looking at alternatives
Leao’s price tag, combined with interest from other teams such as Arsenal, may lead the Reds to consider different targets
Lyon’s Malick Fofana is one player that the Merseysiders have looked at. He is a lot less experienced than Leao and his €80m (£67.4m) valuation would not make him a particularly cheap option.
If Slot’s team do break their transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz, it stands to reason that they will be more hesitant about spending a similar amount on a winger.
In other news, Rio Ferdinand has expressed regret that Liverpool signed a player ahead of Manchester United