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.
