AC Milan have been ‘very satisfied’ with Rafael Leao’s season so far and according to a report, they could soon open renewal talks with their No.10.
In the summer, Leao ended up in the spotlight quite a lot after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. Many have described this season as the last chance for the Portuguese international to prove himself, especially since he now relies on the support of Massimiliano Allegri.
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If not now then his definitive leap in quality will probably never happen, has been the narrative. So far, with six goals and one assist in ten games, Leao has responded in the best way possible and it’s something Milan have taken notice of.
Renewal talks possible
According to Fabrizio Romano in one of his latest videos, Milan are now ‘very satisfied’ with their star thanks to his attitude, numbers, concentration, and way of fighting. It’s exactly what they asked for in the summer and Allegri, in that sense, seems to have had an impact on the player.
As Romano continues, this satisfaction could be the start of renewal talks between the two parties. Leao’s current contract will expire in 2028, so there is no immediate rush, but if the season were to continue like this, he will likely be rewarded.
Furthermore, since most clubs have been worried about Leao’s consistency, this season could prove that he has what it takes and thus increase the interest on the mercato again.
I bet they’ll wait a bit more with renewal offer in hope he hits a period of bad form and then try and lowball him.
The PSG chairman was at the Roma game. I assumed he was taking another look and Mike and maybe Leao. Milan needs to nail both down to new contracts.
People talk about Leão’s lack of consistency because they expect him to be decisive every game; it’s too high a standard. Not even Messi was decisive every game.
It’s quite incredible how a good part of the fan base bashes Leão constantly. It’s almost unheard of that a player of his caliber who is so useful to the team, is constantly harassed by a segment of the “fans.” There are numerous occasions in which Leão earned us 3 points, including yesterday (not to forget that he was the official MVP of the Scudetto season; we wouldn’t have won the Scudetto without him).
Instead, consistency-wise, if you look at entire seasons, Leão is very consistently at a high level. Since he joined, he is the 4th best Serie A goal contributor, season after season in that stretch of Rafa’s Serie A tenure. He is only behind, in this entire period, Berardi, Ciro Immobile, and Lautaro Martinez. If you think that Berardi is only there because everything at Sassuolo went through him, given that he was and is the ONLY great Sassuolo player (but in my opinion not as good as Leão), I’d say that Leão is in the top 3. If Leão played for Sassuolo and everything went through him, his numbers would be higher than Berardi’s. Ciro has declined and has left. Berardi is now a shadow of his old self. Lautaro is still there. Pulisic came in and also became a top Serie A contributor. That is, in the current Serie A, with Ciro and Berardi gone from the top and Puli joining, Leão remains in the top 3, in the good company of Pulisic and Lautaro.
You can’t be called inconsistent if you are CONSISTENTLY in the top 3 of a league that is the third best in Europe, season after season. Even if you factor in Berardi and you say top 4, that’s still very impressive (think that the league has about 600 professional players – top 4 out of 600, that’s being in the 99.33 percentile; since when someone who is above the 99 percentile is mediocre like some “fans” pretend??? That’s the very definition of elite, being among the top 1% in any field of human activity).
Also, another interesting stat is that Leão is one of only 4 players in AC Milan’s history (yes, that is, since 1899!!!) to have featured simultaneously a high number of goals scored and a high number of assists (more than 50 and 20; in the case of Leão, he got 101 total; 60 and 41). That’s right. IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE CLUB!!! He is in the good company of Seedorf and Kaká for that.
That is, the people who call him lazy and ask for him to be sold are completely out of their minds. He is one of the best players in Serie A and in Milan’s entire history, and consistently so.
Don’t look at game to game. Look at entire seasons, and you’ll see that Rafa is actually a consistent player. If a player is in the top 3 or top 4 of the third best league in the world season after season, and top 4 goals + assists contributor all-time in one of the best and most historied clubs in the world, that’s a consistently high-level player. Period.
These stats are very objective; there’s nothing subjective about it. It’s not an opinion; it’s a fact. By spelling these stats out, I’ll be again called a “fanboy” – but there is no denying the FACTS that these stats depict.
Leao aside, Ederson is on the market. He would be a solid addition if we could let go of either Fofana/RLC.