Portuguese wonder-kid Rafael Leão was presented by French side Lille last night.
Due to the attacks at Alcochete at the end of the season, the youngster was one of the many players who rescinded their contracts with Sporting, and the Lions couldn’t bring him back.
Of course, the Lisbon side will now demand money for the transfer, just like they’re doing with the likes of Rui Patrício, who left for Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Gelson Martins, who joined Atletico Madrid.
Now what’s interesting regarding Leão is that Manchester City have been linked to the player from the beginning to the end of this process.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been said to be admirers of the player for a long time, and now that he’s joining Lille, the English club are mentioned once again.
Newspaper Record claims that Leão only travelled to negotiate in France once the deals with Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City collapsed.
Record doesn’t bring any info on the offer made by the Premier League champions. As it seems unlikely that a 19-year-old would reject joining Manchester City for Lille at this stage, which makes us pretty much curious about what his reason was.
We also wonder if Man City were trying to find a deal with Sporting or if the intention was really to sign Leão on a free transfer.
