Confidence continues to grow regarding the renewal talks involving AC Milan and Rafael Leao, with a signature in the next couple of weeks possible.
SportMediaset report that Leao was at Casa Milan yesterday in the company of his father, to buy some Milan shirts, around a dozen in fact, and thus show his attachment to the club once again as he met and took photos with fans.
In recent weeks, the talks between the entourage of the Portuguese winger with Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara have continued.
The Rossoneri management are doing everything possible to please Leao and have raised their salary offer up to €6.5m net per year plus bonuses, effectively reducing the gap between offer and demand to half a million.
To this should be added the willingness of Milan to compensate the player for the €2m paid so far to Sporting CP as part of the fine repayment plan, which remains the real crux of the negotiation.
Leao owed Sporting €22m with the interest incurred and he is currently forfeiting one-fifth of his salary to go towards that, but there is also the possibility that in the end it could be Lille – the other club involved in the case – to take on all the debt so they do not lose the percentage of proceeds from a future resale they are owed.
Some details are missing, as admitted by the player after the second leg against Napoli in the Champions League, but optimism is growing because after a few months of stagnation, the negotiations are continuing and the talks are constant.
Everyone involved is pulling in a single direction, i.e. with the common intention of agreeing an extension until 2027, and it feels like ‘a matter of time’, so much so that he could sign before the two legs against Inter in the semis.
Not going to happen. It makes no sense for him to sign now rather than wait and see what the open market would be offering next yeae