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.
