All is quiet on the renewal front at the moment as AC Milan and Rafael Leao have not taken any steps forward recently in talks, a report claims.
According to today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (via SempreMilan.it), the negotiations are in a state of limbo at the moment without any significant news to report in recent weeks regarding the Portuguese forward and his current deal expiring in June 2024.
The latest offer put forward by Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara was rejected by the player’s entourage and, to date, there are no other offers in store for the foreseeable future.
Milan offered Leao €7m net per season in salary, but an agreement – including the one on the release clause to be included in the new contract – could not be found.
The parties will talk in the coming months, but in the event of not striking a deal it is clear that the former Lille man will end up at the top of the list of players to leave in the summer as Milan cannot run the risk of him going for free.
I’ll say it again: Leao is our most decisive player and I do wish he would stay. However, I think he is no longer the irreplaceable player he used to be, and it doesn’t have anything to do with his talent or potential but with our shift to a three man defence and the tactical change. Leao as a LW in the 4-2-3-1, the mvp of the last season, was pretty much irreplaceable. Leao the second striker in a 3-5-2-ish is a much more replaceable player; he is far less decisive in that position and the stats show it, despite he has not been playing bad lately. I’ve always believed that the right solution if Leao were to leave was not replacing him with another player within our budget and praying it would turn out well because with our budget and business model that was unfeasible but rather a shift in our system that would allow us to remain competitive without a player like him, and in that sense I feel that if there has ever been a moment to sell Leao and invest that money to remain a highly competitive team with ambitions, it is now, sticking to our main current formation for the next season(s) and building a team that better suits our new tactical needs.
Couldn’t agree more, last year leao was irreplaceable. This year however with the slump of the team he has shown I consistencies and shown he is not yet world class. A switch in formstion has helped the team get back to where they were but leao looks like the weak link in it. Maybe it’s better to cash in if it’s for 100m as you can strengthen many departments with that money. In the end if he does leave he will regret it just like many of the players that have walked out on us in the last couple of seasons. I’m sure Kessie is seriously regretting it.
Irreplaceable? LOL. Everyone is replaceable. Not with the players we’ve got though. But if Leao was sold a year ago and Kvara came in, no one would be thinking about how irreplaceable Leao was.
It’s all about finding the suitable replacement. C.Ronaldo has been replaced many times when he has switched teams. Barcelona are once again leading the La Liga without Messi. PSG would dominate Ligue 1 even without Mbappe & Neymar. No one is irreplaceable.
Been saying it for a while. I’d love him to stay but he is not going to. This reminds me exactly of Kessie and Donnarumma.. feels the exact same so let’s change our process and just sell if he doesn’t renew by the start of summer window.
It looks like PSG and Liverpool are the early front runners. I’d like to see him at Newcastle.
The PSG link only makes sense if Mbappe is leaving. It’s going to be a big summer on the transfer market…
No way for Mbappe. Whereas Neymar would be more possible. And it’ll make room for Leao.
Siuu, maybe rafa wanna be another siuu CR7 move to other club from another country and become RL17
Sell him.. we are good without him, Maldini will find a way
Same as Donnaruma’s leaving, we’ll pick another Gem, who is loyal and actually want to be with us
Milan’s offer isn’t good enough? LOL, his performances haven’t been good enough. 9 matches and 0+1. That’s not what gets you 9M€/year.
Sell leao and get mbappe.