One of the stories that has refused to die down despite the transfer window being closed is Chelsea’s interest in Rafael Leão.
The forward was a target for Todd Boehly throughout the summer, with a move even made, but Milan stood firm, making sure their star remained for the first half of the current campaign at the very least.
Chelsea, though, were said to be still keen on the Portuguese, whom they saw firsthand at Stamford Bridge last week, and the rumours continued, with talk of a January move potentially being lined up.
One of the elements that continues to be mentioned here and there is an alleged release clause in Leão’s contract at Milan, which supposedly stands at €150m.
That’s the amount the Serie A side are said to want for the player, although the belief is €120m could be enough to make them wobble.
There also appears to have been some confusion about the clause itself, but Corriere della Sera, back towards the end of August, relayed by TuttoMercatoWeb, claimed that it can ‘only be paid during the first two weeks of July’.
Why is this relevant now? Because Media Foot in France are now claiming that Paris Saint-Germain are mulling over triggering the clause going forward.
The website state that to try and fix some of the issues the club are currently facing going forward, the Ligue 1 side are ‘thinking about a radical solution’ to get Leão, which is ‘the payment of his release clause, fixed at €150m’.
To do this, Luis Campos would first need to guarantee the player’s desire to move to France, but they don’t believe that will be hard to do, as he was the one who brought him to Lille from Sporting CP.
Since the payment of this clause would only be possible in the first two weeks of July, Chelsea, if they do want to sign Leão, would have to move in January, or simply match what Paris Saint-Germain are planning on doing in July.
It would then be a case of who can pay him the most, which is normally a battle most clubs wouldn’t want to be fighting against the Ligue 1 leaders.
Then again, Todd Boehly has shown he is prepared to pay a lot for what he wants, so this could get interesting.
