Rafael Leao’s future at AC Milan remains uncertain but talks are still ongoing over a new deal with the management, according to a report.
Fabrizio Romano has provided an update in today’s edition of his Daily Briefing on CaughtOffside’s Substack regarding the future of Leao, who continues to be linked with top clubs around Europe such as Chelsea, Manchester City and most recently Real Madrid.
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Providing an update on Leao amid the recent transfer rumours, Romano said: “There are negotiations ongoing between AC Milan and Rafael Leao, his agents and his family.
“I’m aware there’s been some speculation about talks stalling, and while it’s not an easy deal, discussions are still ongoing. Paolo Maldini is on it and will try to find a solution as soon as possible.
“I don’t see a transfer happening in January, honestly as Milan will try to keep him for sure; we’ve to see what happens in the summer.”
Given that Chelsea’s new manager buzz under Graham Potter seems to have worn off and they are now struggling to score goals again it could well be that they return to the market in January, with Leao among the players Potter likes as per a recent report from Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling are not firing while Potter doesn’t seem thrilled with the other options such as Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech, so Maldini must move quickly to resolve Leao’s future or risk a bid arriving in January.
If Maldini is on it he’s wasting his time. There’s no incentive to Leao in not running his contract down and seeing what offers his entourage can get from all the richest teams in world football.
And with his ‘fine’ and money owed to Sporting, I can’t blame him for that. It may have been worth him signing a better deal 6-18 months ago, but at this point there just isn’t any incentive for him.
“Maldini is on it.” Oh, boy.
That’s not a very encouraging statement there, Fabrizio.
This all seems very silly from Milan. Just come to an agreement to pay the stupid compensation to Sporting. Give him a pay raise. Then you have the option to negotiate his sale from a place of strength in 6/18 months time, if there are truly teams interested in paying $100m for him. To let the compensation to Sporting be the reason he either leaves for a cutrate price or walks for free is just classic penny wise, pound foolish mindset.
It all depends on how Leao performs. Just because he will be under a contract with Milan doesn’t mean Milan will negotiate his sale from a place of strength .
If he re-signs with Milan at €7,8,9 mil, he will have to perform on a high level to justify that salary.
To whom much is given much is required.
He won’t be babied anymore by neither his coach, management, media , or fans. His every game will be scrutinized. Disappearing acts like he is used to put on a weekly basis will only lower his value, and his high salary will make him hard to move.
He needs a bridge contract of maybe 5 mil a season and if he outperforms that contract, you can always give him a raise next season. He isn’t a sure thing. He has only been productive for the last 2 months of last season and couple months this season. The consistency is not there.
And Milan should ABSOLUTELY NOT pay his debt with Sporting. They had nothing to do with that whole mess. If that’s the sticking point, he should go straight from the world cup to his new club.
Wise words.
Second every word you said here!
Agree on all counts.
LOL does Rabiot who makes 7M/season constantly justifies his salary? Does Vlahovic? EPL teams won’t be scared to give a player of his caliber 7-10M/season. What are you talking about. You sound like that loser @bb – who has so much hate for Leao it’s sad. He’s knows nothing about football. Oh wait my bad, @bb scored 200 goals in the church league…so…LMAO. Go back to bed. @DJS is 100 percent correct. Protect your asset then sell if needed.
You have aome weird obsession with Rabiot.
But since you mentioned him again for a 1000th time , he is actually a perfect example of what i am talking about.
Someone that gets paid more than he is worth. Has Juventus been able to sell him?
Because They’ve been trying to get rid of him for a few years now. No team wants to pay his salary because he doesn’t play up to that salary.
Leao sadly will leave for 150 millions euro after world cup, sadly I believe
He might leave after the World Cup, but NOBODY is paying 150 million. We should stop being delusional. We should be happy if we get half that
At this point, if Milan choose to sell it will be for a vastly reduced figure, likely closer to 60-70m. And even then it’s likely that the player’s agent would be advising him not to leave and to wait until he’s a free agent for a stronger negotiating position.
Then the club benches him, like Bakayoko. He would lose all positions there.
It’s too late to bench him.
Milan needs to sell for as much money they can get so they can have the funds to replace him and strengthen the squad in other departments
Benching him like Bakayoko will lower his value because of how little time is left on his contract, plus you are ruining your season and risk top 4.
Bakayoko isn’t even a Milan player, just another of Maldini ignorant signings
He can’t be benched, because he’s too important to the club’s chances of qualifying for the top 4.
Bakayoko is benched because Milan don’t want to trigger a buy clause.
It all depends on how he performs in the WC. If he shines, then he’s gone to real madrid. (other than barely missing out on Mbappe) Madrid ALWAYS buys and overpays for whoever is the best player in the world cup.
Madrid have been run fairly well for the last few years though, making huge money on sales and only spending on areas they need to strengthen. For example, the last two years have brought in the long-term CM replacements for Modric, Kroos and Casemeiro.
But at LWF they have Vinicius Jr and they have no need to replace him as he has equal ‘star power’ and production as Leao. In fact, there are very few cash rich clubs with space and a role for him at the moment; Chelsea probably do, Manchester United certainly do, Liverpool might do (whilst Diaz is struggling) and never rule out Barcelona or PSG spending money on stupid signings they don’t need, but I think most other top teams are set in his position.
So, on Vini Jr., interestingly his contract also runs out in 2024. Given all this “star power” and production, you would have thought that Madrid, like us, would have renewed their “star man” (in Madrid’s case on of a few) in the summer. Unlike us, Madrid has the finances to meet the player’s demands. But for some reason Vinicius Jr is still about to head into a WC with 1.5 years remaining on his contract. Could it be that he is hedging and seeing who might offer him more (from the EPL)? Could he be slightly miffed that Real were considering bringing in someone who has mostly played in his position (Mbappe)? It seems as though Real is in the same boat with Vinicius as we are with Leao, albeit for slightly different reasons. This potentially creates a situation where Madrid might be forced to sell Vini Jr next summer (to Man City to replace Sterling???). Thus, enter Leao….
Let’s have an open bid for this player. Best price secures. Milan will know what is on the table and have every chance to match the offer if they want to keep Leao. Do it now.. Milan have 70 days till end of Jan.