Even though Rafael Leao’s contract does not run out until the end of the 2023-24 season, there is a sense of ‘now or never’ regarding his renewal.
That is according to this morning’s edition of Tuttosport (via MilanNews), who recall the words of technical director Paolo Maldini before the game against Chelsea on Tuesday night: “We would like to do it before the World Cup.”
The Portuguese forward is asking for €7m net per season to extend his deal, and Milan will try to get close to that figure. The player does not want to leave the club, but also feels that salary amount would allow him to pay off the Sporting CP fine with more calm.
The management are working to find an agreement over the renewal and if it does not arrive then Maldini and Massara will wait for the biggest offer next summer, one that would bring a huge capital gain and also bring more funds to operate on the market.
He doesn’t want the renewal with Milan though, does he? Not primarily, anyway. He wants money. He has offers from Milan.
It’s completely fair to want more money, especially as he can surely get paid more in England, Paris or Spain, but the “he wants to renew” stuff is just nonsense.
Mendes has the offers and wants Leao to leave so he makes more money. Reading in-between the lines Leao and family preference is he stays in Milan for a couple more years.
So about 18 months more and leave on a free would suit him well then!
Leao need money to pay the fine.
I’m not one for over-paying on wages, but 7m is almost a bargain here. If we need to make cuts, make them elsewhere.
Yes, it’s cheap. See how much Juve and Inter are paying their players.
But sadly the reality is that Milan is simply on tight budget, and the key players’ quality now already exceeds their salary level.
Both Leao’s demand and the management’s stinginess are justified, I think. I hope that whatever the end to this saga is, no one is blamed later by the fans, unless if he leaves for free.
Even if he leaves for free I’m not sure there needs to be a huge blame fest. There’s the situation where he moves for free but the club now has no option to sell him if Leao says “no, I leave on a free to make most money”. We could have sold this summer but where would that leave us on the pitch this year and next year?
I’d suggest Leao leaving for free but qualifying for Champions’ League and competing for Serie A might be the better investment. The club’s plans need to be set very soon though and the replacement needs to be scouted and in the building well in advance of his departure.
Yes, and watch what happens at Juventus or Inter if they don’t qualify for the CL this season. Just wait. Barcelona also overpays its players and they were barely able to register register free signings after selling part of their media rights and fire selling some of the dead wood. I do agree that the salary cap has to come up a little, but there are also other players to renew so it’s not just about Leao as they still need to watch the overall wage bill. 7m for him is fine, but my gut tells me that even if they meet the demand that there will be a further demand at 8-10m if he does well at the showcase that is the World Cup, and that will end negotiations. Also, this article is stupid to say that they ought to sell in the summer. It will be too late by then. Sell in January if the renewal is not done before the WC.
bien dit !
Sane 20mil
Rashford 15mil
Vinicius jr 12mil
Ansu fati 13,9mil
These are players on the same level as rafa leao, leao is also the best player at the moment in the serie a and he is askin for 7mil a year i say this is definitely fair to ask we are not a atlanta or other shit club we are ac milan.
And if someone will say but milan doesn’t have it!
Zlatan earned 10mil a year till the beginning this season now 1 mil a year we lost kessie he was earning 7mil a year donnaruma earner 10mil a year ex bonusses
Zlatan was earning 7 mil not 10.
Kessie earned 2.2 mil not 7.
Donnarumma earned 6 mil not 10.
You need to compare the revenue too not just the “name”, all the players you mention play in the clubs that have revenue more than double Milan revenue, Milan is still at loss without overpaying the players and you want the Club to pay more? Also Ibra and donnaruma never earned 10M at Milan
So according to the news here he’s asking 7 M because he needs to pay the fine. I think offering him around 5-6 M while agreeing to pay the fine is a good solution, if the part for the fine won’t be taxed this way.
(I know some news mentioned that he asked for 7 M PLUS the fine to be paid by Milan.)
Let’s admit it. A player of his caliber definitely is worth 7 M per year or even more by today’s standard. He has grown above anyone’s expectation last year.
I suspect that the deal talked about will be X salary and a huge loyalty bonus, effectively paying off a chunk of the fine for each year he stays of the contract.
I don’t think it will be enough because the sign on bonus if he moves for free will no doubt cover it.
la direction doit être franche sur Léao, le salaire exigé par le joueur dépasse l’offre proposé par la direction.
a mon avis, il est préférable de le vendre cet été pour pouvoir recruter plusieurs éléments de qualité et combler plusieurs lacunes dans les trois compartiments.
No question Leao is worth at min 7M. Rabiot makes 7M lol. So totally reasonable request wanting to be one of the top earners in ITALY. Now if he starts moving the amount to EPL wages (10-15M) then we may be forced to sell – but that hasn’t happpened yet. Sign him Asap. Put 7M on the table (not 6 or 6.5M) and pay his fine to Sporting and be done with it. He is an investment/asset. Lock him up long term. Simple
Good talk, pay him the 7m not even 6.9m, he is the best player in serie A, he deserves it, any amount on Leao is a serious investment that will eventually pay off
“No question Leao is worth at min 7M. Rabiot makes 7M lol.”
The main point here should be that Rabiot is nowhere near worth 7M€ and should not be used as a point of reference. One massivelu overpaid player isn’t the standard.