Chelsea have registered a concrete interest in signing Rafael Leao from AC Milan just one week before the closing of the transfer window, a report claims.
Calciomercato.com back up previous reports from various sources in stating that Chelsea are ‘very interested’ in Leao after a 2021-22 season where he was a huge part of the Scudetto win and was voted as the Serie A MVP.
Contacts have been made in recent days with agent Jorge Mendes but Milan directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara have repeatedly reaffirmed the total centrality of Leao in their project and also their absolute desire not to listen to offers.
Chelsea have not presented any official offer and the more the days pass, the less chance they have of signing him because Milan would have such little time to then find a replacement.
Only an offer close to the value of the €150m release clause in Leao’s deal (which is not active in the last two weeks of the market)it would force Massara and Maldini into a meeting with the ownership.
However, there are other talks regarding Leao that will be crucial: those over the renewal of his contract expiring in 2024. Milan want to reach an agreement at all costs and Gerry Cardinale wants to announce himself with a key extension.
However, Chelsea’s interest could create more of a problem because Leao has not said no to the idea of joining them. He is happy with Rossoneri and in Milano but now he expects a salary of €7m to renew compared to the current €1.5m net per season he earns, so it will be up to Cardinale to decide whether to accept or not.
Sell him before he go for free
I hope Milan make the biggest penny off Leao and it allows us to plug 4-5 depth holes while increasing the overall current ability of the squad.
120 million! I would accept it with my eyes closed, he can leave in 5 mins. Leao was only super good the last 3 months of last year, nothing else. What bothers me is that we wouldn’t have time to buy other players, transfer window closes in 7days
Sell, sell, sell… I get really dumbfounded with this pathetic, unbelievably moronic mercantilist frame of mind displayed by some so-called ‘rossoneri’ (in fact I simply cannot believe that, these people are merdi fans, its the conceivable explanation).
Let me put this straight: considering that the owners would be really willing to invest all the money involved in this hypothetic deal purchasing a proper replacement (something which I’ dont believe), do they really believe that we would be able to sign anyone of Leão’s caliber and inportance to the side in just ONE fvckin’ week?! And if this veritable MIRACLE should happen , do they really think we’ll have a significative amount of money (and TIME) left to sign other players (EG, a defender and a midfielder)?!
Come on, they cannot real fans, this is some kind of a sick joke, a lunacy of hopeless freaks. What kind of DERANGED mind would want our season to be doomed from the start both on Serie A and CL?!
if someone doesn’t share the same thoughts as you, it doesn’t mean that they are not a true fans.
they have the same concern as you, Milan!
i want Leao stay with us as possible, but many of them are worried that the new management may not renew Leao’s contract, due to the current salary limit imposed by the club.
after all there is no guarantee whatsoever that the new club owner will surely fulfill Leao’s salary demands.
and if not extended this year, then next season will be very late because his contract will only have one season left, i’m sure you can connect the dots
At least, there is someone who agrees with me!
Do I believe they can just start the operation to sign a replacement in one week, no?
Do I like to think the club’s scouting department is able to have multiple options lined up for each position and that the sporting team would only sanction the sale of Leao if deals for the replacements were already done? Yes
Do I have confidence in the above? I’d going with ‘no’ for now, though they’ve shown with deals like Giroud and Maignan that they are capable of this sort of planning.
So many well-run clubs around the continent have this sort of production line in place, I’d like to think that’s what Milan have. Ajax, Brugge, Benfica, Porto and many others already have the replacement lined up before selling their stars. Heck, even Man City letting go of Sterling and Madrid moving on Casemeiro after Tchouameni was signed up… the biggest clubs in the world do it too.
Seeing a whole new side to you @Gre-No-Li – LOL. Sounds like a lot of “doom and gloom” to me! Ha!!! I agree and would also add that those same fans are ASSUMING IF we did sell Leao all of that $ would be re-invested in the squad. I don’t believe for one second that would be the case – and yes this late in the transfer window who is available to replace him???? Would likely have to wait until Janaury and traditionally the players available then are much less than in Summer – and by then we could have already be out of the Scudetto race. So ya, we should not sell Leao now
We won’t be abble to sign anyone of his caliber for a sum under 90, 100 M, and I’m not even talking about the time left for this… anyway, you are all crazy as hell, thank God all this nonsense is just media gossip.
What if this isn’t a media gossip..?
Dont be so sure…
omfg, there will be no UCL next year w/o leao – for 200% !!
Sell now. Cash in immediately
The lunatic intensity (and persistence) with which people here love to bash / criticize / underestimate an ace player like Leão is something that really puzzles me, honestly.
Go to North Korea man…pathetic egoistic moron.
Would love to go, buy me a ticket, a*s*s*h*o*l*e.
Sell Leao, buy a replace if we can. If we can’t…just use what we have until mid November (16 matches). World Cup break. Then use January mercato to find replacement. As simple as that..
If Leao is very interested in what Chelsea is offering right now and would like to go there if the deal goes through, then sell him now because he’s only going to get even more interested when they can buy him for less money fue to his contract being closer to expire. Also, if they want Leao, we want Chalobah and Ziyech, idk if maybe Pulisic too and Chelsea do seem willing to say goodbye to all of them, which means there is a lot of things that can be done in terms of inserting players in the negotiation and that would make up for the lack of time to sign new players with the money we would get from Leao’s sale.
With just 5 days left , we cannot find his replacement. Better not sell him and try renew
his contract in this season. There is no guarantee that money transfer fee from chelsea will be used for his replacement , mostly they will only sign low cost LW or find another loan player