Rafael Leao will be back at Milanello from Boxing Day onwards and AC Milan are hoping to have their talisman back in the best form possible, a report claims.
La Gazzetta dello Sport speak about a 20 goal target, something that appears possible given he scored 7 goals between January and May to help win the Scudetto, while he has 7 goals across all competitions so far in the current campaign.
Leao and Milan haven’t seen each other since mid-November when he scored a goal after two minutes against Fiorentina, but he found time to say hello to his team-mates during their mid-season training camp in Dubai.
On Monday afternoon, when the team get back to work at Milanello after the two days off granted by Pioli to spend Christmas with their family, the Portuguese will be there ready to work ahead of the resumption of the season.
Leao scored two goals in 83 minutes while at the World Cup with Portugal, even though head coach Santos did not start him once. Of course that means that the former Lille man was able to keep his good form going without exhausting himself from a physical point of view.
There are nine days between 26 December and the game on 4 January against Salernitana, with the hope being that Leao will be decisive again. In 2020-21, he scored a goal every 358 minutes, while this season he is at a goal every 211 minutes.
The 23-year-old wants more on and off the field, and his lawyer Ted Dimvula will meet with Milan again to continue a negotiation that should be long and complicated. Milan are ready to guarantee Rafa a salary of €7m net per year and a future as a star, now the ball is in his court.
