Rafael Leao of AC Milan

CM: ‘The great frost’ – Leao getting used to the bench as Barcelona rumours resume

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

The news has emerged this morning that Rafael Leao is expected to be benched for the game against Napoli at San Siro, sparking questions about his present and his future.

As Calciomercato.com recall, Leao did not start the last league game against Udinese and came off against Club Brugge on Tuesday night half an hour before the end, which shows Paulo Fonseca is not scared to make bold decisions.

Instead, the Portuguese coach is trying to impose his way at Milanello and in the dressing room, with a basic principle: the players that are in the best shape and put the good of the team before their own will play.

Given the magnitude of tonight’s game, there would be an added shock factor. However, Stefano Pioli also tried this type of management with Leao, benching him against Cagliari and Torino towards the end of last season.

It was the sad sunset of the Pioli era, and of a season marred by elimination in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Roma and the defeat in the derby against Inter that gave the second star to the city rivals.

There were times in the 2022-23 season when Pioli made the rather unpopular choice to bench Leao too, against Monza and Cremonese. There was rotation after the winter World Cup too, with the coach choosing to rest key men during the run to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

This season, there has never been the feeling that Leao and Fonseca have found a connection. The first benching was the game at the Stadio Olimpico against Lazio – due to a listless performance in Parma – and in exchange he received a sort of mutiny during the cooling break.

Leao was also brought off against Venezia and Inter, after which he did nothing to hide his disappointment. The winger was replaced in the Fiorentina game too, marking a series of withdrawals in which – at least in the player’s head – the idea was built and consolidated that Fonseca has it in for him.

However, what filters from Milan internally is very different. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported the contact between the Rossoneri CEO Giorgio Furlani and the player’s entourage after the match against Brugge to talk through the delicate moment that Leao is experiencing.

leao pioli fonseca
Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

In recent days Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been trying to work on the former Lille star’s mind to encourage him to react and bring out his full potential. It is the same objective that Fonseca has set himself, who has opted for ‘shock therapy’ to try get him back in form.

In light of his struggles so far this season, rumours about his future have begun to circulate again. In particular, some rumours from Spain about a renewed interest from Barcelona, especially given the good relations between his agent Jorge Mendes and the Catalan side.

Despite this, it doesn’t seem anything too concrete at present. Leao’s contract with Milan expires in 2028, there is a release clause of €100m and Barca are likely to focus on Raphinha given their economic issues. Thus, the only option at present is to win Milan over (again).

Tags AC Milan Rafael Leao

24 Comments

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  1. Just get on with it and sell the hip hop wannabe rapper for crying out loud!! Pick a job and stick to it son you Wana go make music go make music in Barcelona ya weirdo!!

  2. Let the coach do his job of coaching. If this is his style of coaching then let it be. If it is tactical then so be it. But let him do his job the way he wants

      1. I don’t know about that. My thing is just let him coach. If he needs to sit Leao and that’s HIS plan let him be. I’m pretty sure we’d be more mobile as a team. And maybe that’s where Fonseca is going. As for whether Fonseca stays or goes, thats entirely up to management and the results he gets.
        BUT as of now, u support whoever is there…as coach and whoever plays from the first minute (to be clear that doesn’t mean that ppl can’t criticize his selections, feel free to do so)

  3. Even if Barca didn’t have financial problems, he won’t like the situation there and especially he won’t like Barca’s coach either.
    He’d be literally replacing Milan’s bench with Barcelona’s bench.
    Yamal on one side and Raphinha on the other, Leao would play even less at Barca, because both of those players are better than him.

    1. Even if we get rid of Leao, we still have a ton of wingers. I think the answer to “who do we bring in to ‘replace’ Leao” depends on how Okafor and Chukwueze perform this season. If they both do well, then we don’t really need to spend money on the wings, as Okafor will start at LW, Chuk at RW and Pulisic at AM or one of the two wings when necessary. If one of Chuk or Okafor don’t play as well, perhaps Puli will start on that wing, and we’ll bring in an AM instead (bring back Daniel Maldini?). In the event of a Leao sale, I’d me more concerned with spending the money at DM, RB (depending on how Royal does for the rest of the season), CB (aside from Gabbia, none of the others are super convincing), or even at striker where there are still question marks (as you point out by highlighting Osimhen).

      1. I do agree with you that wings are not most importent atm but i did refer to what i heard during the transfer window and what would be a good deal for a team(i belive that Chiese and Osimhen are avilable atm for less than they are worth)…..Ibra was talking to Osimhen agent on the last day of the transfer window and Chiesa was offered to us so it doesn’t look to me like complete SF. I just got enough of Leao childlish behavior and based on what i read i thought that IT would be the best deal. I wrote only about changes in front line as artice is about that but if you want i can go through the whole team 😉

        Formations that i would like to be used (based on what we play + my thoughts (dreams)):
        4-2-4 , 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 3-5-2
        Defence:
        Gabbia(c) , Pavlović, Thiaw, not sure if possibile but I would bring Kalulu back, Theo, Royal, + deputy for Theo (if Terra will start making progress he can be the one – we need Italian players and he could Play on both sides)
        I’m kicking Tomori out for the same reason as Abraham…..taking ball away from Pulisic before penalty and westing it. I think they might be messing up in a lockeroom)
        There is no need to spend big money on defence in my opinion…..if we would sell Tomori we could invest it on it.

        Midfield:
        Fofana, Reijnders, Musah,
        Here we will need biggest investments, some extra money could come from selling RLC…..we need 2 guys here…..hopefully Italian (Ricci and Casadei ? – that’s SF 😉
        Attack: Osimhen, Chiesa, Morata, Maldini, Okafor , Chukwueze, Pulisic, Sneakers (he can play RW in 3-5-2 as well).

        Yes, i would bring Maldini back.

        I think we would end up with quite flexible team that could Play in different formations during a game with no harm on quality.

  4. Rafa is one of those guys who reached their peak a bit early and then spends the rest of their career chasing that peak. But he’ll never get it again because of poor work ethics.

    Natural talent without dedicated hard work is useless..

    1. Talent without discipline won’t help him evolve. I think he will stay at his current level and cycle between highs and lows. And maybe that’s what he’s comfortable with.

      1. He probably is. Then the media start hounding him and he isn’t comfortable anymore..then he’s the victim and white knight luigi the leao simp will jump to defense

  5. I at least hope they sack Moncada before they get their hands on Leao and Theo’s money. We need a skilled and respected sporting director to properly patch the hole on the left flank after these two are sold.

    I really don’t want them to repeat the Tonali fiasco, where they wasted 90 millions on midfield but never properly patch it.

  6. Leao has talent but lacks discipline. If he doesn’t change his attitude and mindset then he should be sold next summer. It’s as simple as that.

    Leao mentality is that he wants to play his game instead of playing for the team. Under Pioli he was given the freedom to run at players and not do any work defensively.

    This made Milan one dimensional and if Leao losses the ball we would immediately get counter attack. This is why it was so easy for Inzaghi and Inter to beat Milan as if we weren’t good enough to beat the them when it was really about bad tactics from Pioli.

    I support Fonseca on this. When we see Barcelona play we see players who are working hard for the team and players who are following instructions of the coach.

    Those who want to play their own game can leave.

    1. I support Fonseca on this. When we see Barcelona play we see players who are working hard for the team and players who are following instructions of the coach.

      Nice Point ✅

    2. I don’t want Leao defending, frankly because he isn’t any good at it. I want Leao doing what he does best – attacking down the wing. Pioli understood and catered to it. Many ask for a system player. Leao isn’t it.

      Do you ever see Dybala pressing hard and defending deep? DDR asked of certain things of him in build up but ultimately gave him the freedom to operate, which is why he looked leaps and bounds better than now, under Juric.

      Leao isn’t defferent.

  7. I do agree with you that wings are not most importent atm but i did refer to what i heard during the transfer window and what would be a good deal for a team(i belive that Chiese and Osimhen are avilable atm for less than they are worth)…..Ibra was talking to Osimhen agent on the last day of the transfer window and Chiesa was offered to us so it doesn’t look to me like complete SF. I just got enough of Leao childlish behavior and based on what i read i thought that IT would be the best deal. I wrote only about changes in front line as artice is about that but if you want i can go through the whole team 😉

    Formations that i would like to be used (based on what we play + my thoughts (dreams)):
    4-2-4 , 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 3-5-2
    Defence:
    Gabbia(c) , Pavlović, Thiaw, not sure if possibile but I would bring Kalulu back, Theo, Royal, + deputy for Theo (if Terra will start making progress he can be the one – we need Italian players and he could Play on both sides)
    I’m kicking Tomori out for the same reason as Abraham…..taking ball away from Pulisic before penalty and westing it. I think they might be messing up in a lockeroom)
    There is no need to spend big money on defence in my opinion…..if we would sell Tomori we could invest it on it.

    Midfield:
    Fofana, Reijnders, Musah,
    Here we will need biggest investments, some extra money could come from selling RLC…..we need 2 guys here…..hopefully Italian (Ricci and Casadei ? – that’s SF 😉
    Attack: Osimhen, Chiesa, Morata, Maldini, Okafor , Chukwueze, Pulisic, Sneakers (he can play RW in 3-5-2 as well).

    Yes, i would bring Maldini back.

    I think we would end up with quite flexible team that could Play in different formations during a game with no harm on quality.

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