AC Milan striker Rafael Leao has admitted he can ‘give and do more’ after a difficult first season so far with the Rossoneri.
Last summer, the Rossoneri signed Rafael Leao from Lille for a fee of widely reported to be €28m, however the Portuguese striker has struggled to break through, spending a lot of time on the bench in his first season.
He has made 22 appearances for Milan thus far, but only ten of them have been starts, racking up two goals and two assists in the process.
It was actually recently reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport that Leao has been identified as a ‘problem’ that Milan have with their attack, which is the club’s worst in 33 years.
The paper writes that the 20-year-old is ‘the real painful note of the department’ for the Milan leadership, and that he has 12 games to try to change his season if it gets back underway.
Leao was interviewed by Sky Italia and was asked about his first season in Italy as well as his expectations for the future, and his words were transcribed by MilanNews.
“I tried to help the team through my qualities, but during the season there are moments when others are stronger than you and need patience. The team comes before the individual, the important is to be ready when one is called into question,” he said.
“I can give and do more. I know what I can still give, I believe in myself. Italy was a new experience for me, a new championship, but I feel I have grown a lot from a tactical point of view and I am confident for this and for the next season.”
On his memories so far: “The best moments so far with the Milan? Two: my debut in the derby against Inter and my first goal at San Siro.”
On his future: “I don’t like making promises but I prefer to respond on the field. But I promise to give everything for this shirt, I ask our fans to support us as it has already happened several times this year in hard times.
“We want to bring Milan back to Europe, in the places it deserves, in the big stages. We are AC Milan.”
