Rafael Leao continues his time at AC Milan to be over once the season is done, a report has claimed, but he is unlikely to replace Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain.
According to what is being reported by Footmercato, Mbappé leaving and PSG must find a replacement for him. Among Luis Campos’ top targets is Leão, someone that he brought to Lille from Sporting CP.
The PSG sporting director obviously knows that apart from somehow convincing Erling Haaland, it will be almost impossible for him to replace the current top scorer in Ligue 1 who is one of the best players in the world.
Victor Osimhen of Napoli has been followed for a long time by PSG, another former Lille player who is currently in Serie A, but it is Leao who has convinced Campos to the highest degree and he has made him a prime target for the summer.
What are Leao’s thoughts? The report states that he feels like his Milan era will be done after five seasons and he is wanting a new challenge away from Serie A.
The Portuguese international has six goals and eight assists in 27 matches which is far from the pace of his 2022-23 campaign in which he amassed 16 goals and 15 assists in 48 matches in all competitions.
Where will he go? The forward has not made PSG a priority because Leão has already ticked off playing in France, so a move to the Premier League or LaLiga is higher on the list.
Another important detail is the price. There is a release clause worth €175m in his contract but it is only valid from July 5 to 15 during all the remaining years of his deal at Milan.
Regarding the rest of the mercato, it will be a period of normal negotiations as with any other deal. Therefore, unless PSG pay up a huge amount in the first half of July, they will have to sit down with Milan.
PSG will have no trouble tripling or even quadrupling Leao’s salary to try to convince him to join, while the other fact that plays in their favour is the fact that almost every elite European club have the left wing role sorted.
No one in EPL needs Leao.
ManCity got Doku and Grealish.
ManUtd got Rashford, Garnacho.
Liverpool has Luis Diaz.
Chelsea has Mudryk, Sterling, Nkunku.
Arsenal has Marrinelli.
Newcastle got Gordon.
Tottenham, Aston Villa, WestHam are not spending a lot of money on a single transfer.
Milan should not sell Leao this summer and need to hold on to Leao for one more season because right now his value is really low. Nobody is paying you big money for some guy that can’t score goals for months at a time.
A new coach like Motta might elevate Leao’s game and raise his value.
“No one in EPL needs Leao.”
He can go to a mid-table team and no one will remember the name Leao in 10-20 years or so.
A mid-table team cannot sign a player like Leao and given the role he played in our scudetto, I’m sure many people will remember him.
people look at more than just goals when they scout players, you know… Overall Leao is a showmaker and if you want one you pay for him..
Exactly, when RL10 in his peak, he’s like younger CR7, seen Leao when playing in national team 😀
You do realise he is better than 8/10 of those players right? Rashford?? REALLY?
This season Rashford 5 goals 6 assists.
Last season 30 goals 11 assists.
Leao, this season 6 g , 7 assists.
Leao last season 16 g, 15 assists.
Yes Rashford, really.
Keep thinking that leao is better than those players because he is a Milan player.
Rashford last season blows out of the water Leao’ best season ever.
I doubt a change in the manager would improve much Leao. He creates a lot of space for the central and right side of the field, where the others manage to get more goals. He also started contributing more to the team, gets back to support a bit more. This season I believe he improved with the assists – even though numbers don’t show it, he actually created a lot of 90-100% chances that his teammates screwed.
Where he suffers is mostly his shooting and headers, which are some of the worst in the whole team, including the primavera. It’s like he can only shoot in the net on 1-1 vs the goalkeeper after he went through several defenders or from the smallest of angles on the left. Everything else is a shoot to kill someone in the audience. I include headers, but how can I judge if he is good with those, when I’ve never seen him try.
I think he will still improve his game but won’t be a superstar. And I think he is waay too chill to play in EPL as of now. However, he is a good fit for us, still is our best player when all things considered and unless we sell on a big figure, I would prefer for him to stay and develop here.
Excellent post. I also feel that Rafa contributes more than detractors see. They focus on goals while Rafa is instrumental for assists and for placing his companions in scoring position (which they often miss, otherwise he would have way more assists). He disorganizes defenses and opens spaces for others. His shooting can be perfect sometimes with beautiful goals but more often he is a threat to Chinese spy balloons. I too would like him to stay for another season.