Arsenal have approached AC Milan winger Rafael Leao’s entourage over potentially signing him, according to a report.
According to FootballTransfers, an ‘informal, preliminary contact’ took place between Arsenal and the representatives of Leao ‘to sound out whether or not there is interest in a potential move’ to the Premier League side.
However, the winger made it clear to the Gunners that he is ‘fully focused on the current season and will not move in January’, meaning that he would not even begin to entertain any potential switch until next summer, if at all.
Sources have ‘played down links with Barcelona’ as per the report, which have been repeatedly talked about in the Spanish media. Meanwhile, any claims that Jorge Mendes is pushing for Leao to move in January are ’emphatically wide of the mark’.
Arsenal are understood to be looking for a player who can start on the left amid doubts over Gabriel Martinelli’s future and with Raheem Sterling yet to really hit the ground running following his deadline day arrival from Chelsea.
Villarreal’s Alex Baena and PSG’s Bradley Barcola are on the list for the north London club too even if a deal for the latter is unlikely. Athletic Club’s Nico Williams and Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens are on the Gunners’ radar too.
It has been a strange season for Leao already given that he has worn the captain’s armband, been dropped for consecutive league games and now seems to be back to his near-best form.
Kinda weird kvara isn’t on the shortlist
This is upsetting because the rumors about Barcelona are wildly exaggerated given that club’s dire financial situation. However Arsenal have enough fire power to purchase Rafa. Well, I mean, I am always hesitating in giving a lot of weight to rumors I read about, and I prefer to wait for confirmation from club officials or the player’s entourage. In any case, if these rumors for a change are true, then I’ll be upset because I believe that Milan will be worse off without Rafa.
I am primarily a Milan fan but I’m secondarily an Arsenal fan and I have been one for many years. I very much like Martinelli so I don’t understand why he isn’t very favored by Arteta. Lately he’s been relegated to the super sub situation but often, when he comes in, he makes an impact. By the way, he has good work rate and does track back. He is not bad defensively, and has good pace, and good finishing. So while he isn’t as explosive as Rafa in offense, he is maybe a bit more complete than Rafa as a player, and his strengths are some that Rafa mostly lacks. Martinelli could fit well Fonseca’s system. I think he is a very decent left winger. However Arsenal has the embarrass of riches. Trossard is also very good, and Sterling is there too, so Martinelli has less space.
Maybe a way to minimize the damage to Milan if Rafa were to leave for Arsenal, would be to swap him with Martinelli; if Arsenal no longer want him, he could be part of the package to get Leão. Maybe Martinelli would be more explosive in Serie A than he is in the physical EPL. While it is true that Martinelli’s form lately has been less good than it used to be, I think he can recover and become a top level winger again.
OK, but what are his wages? Prem wages are usually incompatible with Serie A unless the player is desperate and willing to cut wage drastically.
Regardless, I think what will most influence any moves by our best players is our final league standing. The likelihood of departures rises dramatically if we do not qualify for the CL, and right now that is actually looking like a possibility. There is some way to go, but the current trend does not support CL qualification. Let’s see what happens.
Leao won’t be able to get away with his inconsistencies in the PL. he knows Milan is perfect for this version of him because we can’t afford anything better.
At seven million euros per season he’s not leaving.