The Rafael Leao situation has become a difficult one for the AC Milan management because they have not managed to agree a renewal amid demands from the player that are not matching his performances, a report claims.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) recall that the negotiations over the renewal of Leao have been going on for several months and are probably also influencing the Portuguese forward’s performances on the pitch.
On Sunday in the win over Atalanta, Leao provided the assist to Junior Messias for the goal to seal the win and make it 2-0, but this was not enough to revive an evening below expectations as he missed several scoring chances and sometimes looked lost.
The paper adds that the more the team assimilates the new formation – the 3-4-2-1 – the less the former Lille man seems to thrive, even if he admitted that playing more central feels better for him.
In 2023 so far Leao has 2 goals and 2 assists in 12 games, while in 2022 before the World Cup break he had 7 goals and 8 assists in 20 games.
Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara have offered Leao €6.5m net net per season to stay which is four times his current salary and what Zlatan Ibrahimović earned before this season, but the player revealed a desire to talk about things at the end of the season in his pre-match comments on Sunday.
If a signature on the new contract does not arrive then Milan will have to sell to the highest bidder with Chelsea remaining in the front row, as contacts between the Blues and Leao’s entourage have never stopped.
Milan management seems clueless on renewing contracts and knowing when to sell players before their value drops or before they leave for free like Dollarumma, Calhanoglu and Kessie. That’s almost 150m worth leaving for free.
Leao should have been sold no later than January when Chelsea was willing to pay 120m for him. Now they will have to take less 100m because he will only have 1 year left on his contract. Smh
Chelsea was never willing to pay 120M… some fans believe all the fake news. The highest bid from Chelsea was 70/80M. And if he’s really that fantastic, why only one club is serious for him? Yeah exactly, he’s lazy and only shows up in parts of games mostly against mid table teams. Some fanboys of Leao just go up in the media hype bc he’s young, looks like a model and has flair. On YouTube yeah he seems like the real deal but in full games you see his weaknesses. He’s a great athlete but a decent football player, who relies to much in his pace
“Milan management seems clueless on renewing contracts”
Being clueless and not having the money is two very different things. Clueless on renewing contracts? Reeeeally?! Tomori, Tonali, Kalulu, Bennacer, Hernandez, etc. Just a few names they’ve renewed recently.
Please share your wisdom and tell us how you would have handled these negotiations and especially the one with Leao. I’m curious to know. 🙂
Chelsea offered 70-80M€ for him. Where on Earth did you get the idea that they’d be willing to pay 120M€ for him?!!!!
Leao is actually playing pretty well since Milan got back to wining ways. Except he isn’t scoring, but we won 1-0 most games so almost nobody is scoring atm. 5 goals in the last 4 games, 3 different scorers.
Its ridiculous that negotiation takes so long in this club.. you sit down, talk it out, seems like something that can be done in a week or less.
Time is money, Hernandez, for example, didnt need long to sign na new deal and im sure he’d have plenty options if he wanted to leave
Since GdS reported a breakdown in Milan-Leao negotiations, and Milan rushed to deny it, GdS has not stopped printing stories about Leao and going pretty hard at him.
Their source, when it comes to the negotiations is either reliable and they are doubling down besides the lip service of the club and Leao’s agent, or they are just fools.
Time will tell.
sell this player this summer or he will walk out for free. thats embarrasement. pioli should try with relax and calm for chaka traore. hes same good as leao for winger.