Any hopes that the AC Milan management had of wrapping up Rafael Leao’s renewal quickly may have vanished into thin air after today’s meeting, a report claims.
According to Sky, Leao’s lawyer arrived at Casa Milan in the late afternoon on Tuesday together with one of his collaborators (but without his father) for a first meeting which lasted about an hour to begin the dialogue regarding a renewal.
It is still very complicated for several reasons, the first being the very high demands of the player who knows that PSG, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United are after him. Secondly, there is the €16.5m owed to Sporting CP as a fine for terminating his deal with them four years ago.
Leao will have to contribute towards that and the entourage of the player would like to recover that amount through his next contract renewal. Milan would like to reach an agreement before the World Cup because they know it would become more difficult if he shone in Qatar, but the aforementioned makes things difficult.
Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are pressing above all and we will have to wait for new meetings and developments to fully understand what the evolution of the negotiation will be, and much will also depend on the player’s will. If Leao wanted to stay with the Rossoneri to continue his growth, the negotiation could be a little less complicated, though there will be temptations from abroad.
Milan have made it known that in the next few days they will present a significant contract offer to the player but also explicitly said that they do not want to enter into the issue of compensation with Sporting CP.
The Rossoneri will do everything to keep the player but it seems very unlikely things will close before the World Cup. The biggest obstacle concerns the player’s requests which are much higher than Milan’s current salary ceiling, however the club could also make an exception to this rule given the importance that Leao has in the Milan project for the present and for the future.
Leao wants around €6-7m to extend his deal – practically triple his current salary – given that all the top European clubs have been courting him for some time and can afford to pay that.
