The situation surrounding Rafael Leao continues to attract attention from the media, and details have emerged regarding how AC Milan are handling it internally.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, two nights ago Noah Okafor took over from Leao and made an instant impact. Okafor wears the 17 shirt in honour of Leao, who wore it before him, and Rafa has called him a ‘little brother’ several times because of their great friendship.
A sign of dejection
When the Swiss forward unlocked the match against Club Brugge, with the assist to Tijjani Reijnders, Leao simply raised his arms and then sat down on the bench. He participated in the celebrations for Francesco Camarda’s disallowed goal, but immediately went to the dressing room at full-time while the team celebrated under the Curva Sud.
Not only that, but Leao left the stadium less than 15 minutes after full-time, with his head down, backpack on his shoulder and a small suitcase in hand. He also had a Brugge shirt (presumably that he had swapped) and some black slippers on his feet.
Leao realises that he is in a difficult, even unfortunate moment. As (bad) luck would have it, Milan turned into the Champions League immediately after after he was taken off the pitch, and while the winger had not performed badly, it comes after he was left on the bench for 90 minutes against Udinese.
Furlani’s intervention
The bitterness remains: Leao would still like to be more incisive and decisive, beyond fate and the events that involve the team, but he is not in the best physical condition. Yesterday the CEO Giorgio Furlani spoke about it with the player’s entourage and the summary of the meeting is that Leao is down in the dumps but is just waiting for an opportunity to pull himself together.
There are no particular problems with the coach, what is certain is that for the first time there is a winning Milan even without Leao. For once it feels like a team that can afford to do without him and it is no coincidence that for the next match against Bologna the Portuguese faces a real fight with Okafor for his spot.
On the other hand, the club believes that Rafa is the best player on the team and that in the long run there cannot be a great Milan without him, therefore Leao will have to be recovered as best as possible and made increasingly involved.
It is a task that obviously falls on Fonseca’s desk. The management will do everything possible to ensure that the coach and player find a winning feeling again, without however intervening in the selection choices that he makes. The club do not see any kind of saga, and on the contrary they are trying to shield him by also involving the coach.
Of course Leao will have to do his bit: the nine dribbles against Brugge did not lead to anything effective so more precision, greater concentration, certainly a different application and spirit are needed. A great play is not enough if it is not accompanied by a game with sacrifice in the non-possession phase.
The mission begins
Today Leao is also disappointed with himself for not being able to contribute (he has one goal and four assists this season) and he has lost his smile but wants to do everything to find it again. On social media he is cryptic: “God only knows how pure my heart is” he wrote yesterday. Then, under Francesco Camarda’s latest post: “You are a true Milan fan, my little one.”
Leao’s negative moment has – fortunately for Milan, unfortunately for him – coincided with a positive phase for the other forwards. Fonseca expects the former Lille man to put into practice the intention of proving his worth again starting from the next few training sessions at Milanello.
The knot, however, remains and will only be resolved in the next few days. In any case, the future does not go beyond the next match and they are not thinking about what will happen with Leao in January or in the summer.
If anything, it is the agent who will be able to look around: last summer some signals had arrived from Barcelona, who however remain in financial crisis. If it resolves its economic problems, will they try again? Who knows, but the only option on the table at the moment is Milan.
Damn Rafa 😩 Good player, but in my opinion not in a top 10 of wingers. Too inconsistent and weak character. I think he needs to change his approach to get better but my experience tells me it won’t happen. So sell him in summer and get Lookman or who ever…
Luckily its Furlani not Scaroni
I think this article has some fair balance to it – not everything has to be hero / villain – even if not in his best form and not playing as his wage might imply (and his salary isn’t his fault) he’s a really important member of the team and the squad and it’s in everyone’s interest for him to be able to regain confidence and form.
Even off-form, he’s an attacking threat and makes opposition managers and players have to adapt to him, so hopefully he and Fonseca can make the best of it until he’s ready to shine again like the player of a season or two ago.
No one denies his talent. When he’s at his best, he glides past players like a kid in the schoolyard. However he has not taken that big step to be elite.
Very good analysis
Or the media is just thinking of this to much. You say he raised his arms after noahs goal is that not enough? You say he celebrated camardas goal but has lost his smile?
Contradictions.
Maybe he is having a rough time becoming a man? Alot of men have a dip in mood in their life especially beetween 20 and 30 when you grow from a boy to a man and realises the world is not as bright as you thought.
Bro this guy is expecting a child soon. Hes probably has personal life distractions and the media and fan out cry isnt helping. He needs support from everyone to return to his best form.
Him and his partner are expecting twins lmao. Hes probably has a lot on his mind. Funny you dont read this much from the media…. Everyone just calls him lazy here
Expecting a child is a good thing but not a professional excuse. It is not a medical emergency and cannot be used as an excuse not to be in a shaky condition, Theo had his baby here in Lombardy, heaven did not fall.
Leao needs to upgrade, this guy was compared with Vinicius some years back, HE NEEDS TO BE BETTER!!
You are right in theory. However, let’s not pretend you know anything about his personal life.
Hopefully everything is alright, but there is always huge amount of stress involved with pregnancies, especially the first one.
No lectures needed on professionalism, really. IRL jobs at his age people are just out of the education system and start from the bottom.
This guy at his age is in the top 1 percentile in his field for 4-5 years now. This is not luck, but some talent and a lot of dedicated work. You may demand more from him as he clearly has the quality to step up his game, but it’s a bit funny for any of us web trolls to comment on his professionalism considering all.
I love that Rafa plays for Milan. I love that Theo plays for Milan. In the Scudetto winning team, they were young players and the title would not have been won without them. What I am wondering is whether a team can reach the highest level of success today with both of them, as they seem to feed off of one another – both positively and negatively.