Home » GdS: Leao wants to stay but his renewal is a puzzle – the three factors at play
Rafael Leao of AC Milan

GdS: Leao wants to stay but his renewal is a puzzle – the three factors at play

AC Milan welcomed Rafael Leao back to training yesterday and were greeted by newspaper reports that Chelsea are lining up an attempt to sign him.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) explains that both Milan and the player want to go forward together despite the interest of Chelsea, but there are three elements that are complicating the renewal sage.


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First of all there is the fact that Leao owes Sporting CP €16.5m after the resolution of the legal battle between the parties, which will rise to €20m when factoring in interest, so the winger will withhold 20% of his salary to go towards paying it off.

Another element to take into consideration is that Lille are entitled to 15% of the proceeds from a possible future resale, which means that any sale price would have to be inflated a tad to offset that.

The third factor is linked to who represents Leao. A French lawyer joined the scene in March, linked to Leao’s father, and now he seems to have taken most of the power away from Jorge Mendes. There are various pieces to the puzzle, therefore.

Tags AC Milan Rafael Leao

26 Comments

  1. First is dollarumma,then cabaglu,now kessie,I see leao living free as well,that lawyer will negotiate with the next club to pay sporting fc 16m,and leo joins for Free, with this happening Milan will be at the receiving end.sale now and reinvest,they will drag you till the contract expires.

  2. Just sell leao and buy lang, enough of this drama. It is like Milan management ‘ve learnt nothing from previous years!!!

    1. If Milan can get 100M€ for him now, then sell. If not, then keep him for another year (he’s not going to sign a new contract) but still buy Lang (or similar) to give Leao breathing breaks and the new guy to learn the Serie A tricks. That way the new guy would be ready to be the starter next year and Milan can then sell Leao for 30-40M€.

  3. You’re saying to sell him like he’s Castillejo.
    This is the guy who gave us Scudetto, guys.
    We need him here, for crucial part of our improving.
    And I believe, that if they won’t find a solution he will be sold but we’ll know that only in the EOY.
    LEt’s hope it won’t get there

    1. So which would you prefer
      1) Keep him and let him leave for free in two years or
      2) Sell him now for 100M€ and invest the money on quality players?

      Milan cannot force people to stay if they don’t really want to.

  4. Greater #Legends have left ❤️🖤Milan before but we always get back on top; so you see, Mr Massara and Mr #Lengendary Maldini, now’s a good time to cash in our chips. We got back into the champions league 2 seasons ago when his output was below par… so don’t be giving that crap about the young man being the one who gave us the scudetto; Calabria worked, Kjaer worked hard, Rebic did his part, Gabbia worked alongside, Castillejo came in good when we were almost losing early in the season, Tatarusanu contributed in blood and sweat saving a penalty in the first derby, we can’t take anything away from Bennacer, Krunic gave his all… The talented young man didn’t give us the scudetto all by himself, it was a collective achievement; “the team” did!
    We all believed together and don’t you ever underestimate the role of we the fans in the 21/22 season home stretch!
    If he and his agent are stalling on the renewal, I say sell.
    #WeAreAcMilan
    We #RespAct
    #ForzaRafaelLeao but I love my ❤️🖤Milan
    #Forza❤️🖤Milan

    1. This is the most intelligent statement I have read on this leao’s renewal. Everyone keep saying he gave us scudetto like he was the only one defending, playing midfield and scoring the goals.. while we won’t ever underestimate his importance during the last season especially when he had to step up for the team, we don’t want to also underestimate the performance of other players, the coaches, the management and even we the fans.
      I am a firm believer of no player is bigger than a team. If he feels 6m salary is too small for his status compared to the 1.5m he was collecting before, then the management should cash in on him now and get a suitable replacement. I hate greed in my life .

    2. Exactly. Leao maybe did his part in the last two months but it was the rest of the squad who made fight for the scudetto possible in the first place. One could even argue that Maignan was more important in the scudetto fight than Leao.

      1. Maignan was in fact the best goalie in Europe based on several stats. If Tatarusanu were the no 1 GK, Milan wouldn’t have made it to the TOP4.

  5. Give him deadline date to renew example next month . If he want to renew with AC Milan term condition 5-6m euro nett it is good , but if he refuse and want to waste time till 2 years contract expire just sell him ( if still refuse offer from highest bid and refuse renew then use last option bench him & play rebic )

  6. I don’t entirely agree with you Sam. Yes, it’s a team effort, but to win a Scudetto needs something special, and this season he was that special player who scored and assisted where others, AMC, right wing, failed.

    Saying that, we can’t lose him for nothing if he doesn’t sign. If we can get 100m, we can invest this wisely.

    Put it this way, what is better:

    1 – Leao, Diaz and Salamakers
    2 – Lang, CDK and Berradi

    Option 2 would probably cost about the same as the fees received for Leao.

    1. That’s easy. Option 2 is far better. It’s better to attack from both sides instead of relying on one single player.

    2. Option 1 is better… it won us a scudetto.

      Option 2 is just a hypothetical… could be better but it could be worse.

      1. Inter & Juve are MUCH stronger than last season. And Milan? Pretty much the same so RW & #10 need an upgrade. Cannot rely on one player/wing to perform.

  7. The only way to make Milan Stronger this season, is to keep leao, Add a CAM and a RW who can contribute in attack.

    Yes, if we can’t tie Leao down to a contract favorable to Milan, then we should definitely sell. But there is no time.

    By august 1st, it should either be Leao signing a new contract, or leao on the market to be sold. There are NO OTHER ALTERNATIVES.

  8. LOL. Sell Leao? Now? That’s funny. Those who scream sell are ASSUMING ownership will invest ALL of that $$ into new players lol. Based on what evidence do you make that assumption??? So you really think if we sell Leao for 120-150M Redbird will all of a sudden go on a spending spree and buy 120-150M worth of players??? LOL. What makes you believe that? Wake up gents. This ownership is made fro PROFIT. They are an investment fund. That is their job. The smart thing is to pay Leao the 6-7M he is requesting now and sign him to a new 5 year deal. He WANTS to stay he just doesn’t want to play for Peanuts – which after paying back Sporting CP that is what he will be doing at 4.5M/season. In the alternative give him a signing bonus to cover his penalty to Sporting and sign him to a cheaper salary (5.5M). But pls don’t ASSUME Redbird will invest all of that $$ back into the team. Like they were supposed to give us 100M transfer budget to buy players after winning the league and now we apparently have 40M lol.

    1. “Those who scream sell are ASSUMING ownership will invest ALL of that $$ into new players lol.”

      Nope. You are ASSUMING everyone is assuming. I’m not. It seems Nelli isn’t.

      1. “Like they were supposed to give us 100M transfer budget to buy players after winning the league and now we apparently have 40M lol.”

        Based on your imagination or some media rumors? Did Gerry Cardinale call you and say “Dear J, we have 100M€ transfer budget for Milan this summer. Hope you are satisfied with it.”

        Don’t ASSUME everything you read on twitter is The Truth.

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