It wouldn’t be a day ending in ‘y’ if the Italian media didn’t talk about the idea of Rafael Leao moving to Chelsea in the near future.
The Portuguese forward has been a target for the Blues since the summer, as Todd Boehly continues his rebuilding of the Stamford Bridge side, with a bid made at some point in August.
Paolo Maldini revealed as much, with the amount since claimed to be €120m, which falls short of the €150m release clause that is active in the player’s contract during the first two weeks of July.
Milan stood firm in hope of renewing the player to a longer contract, but that has proven rather difficult, with him nearing the final 18 months of his current deal.
That would leave the Serie A side exposed next summer if nothing has been agreed before then, which will be Chelsea’s hope going forward.
Well, according to Cristiano Ruiu, an Italian journalist writing for Calciomercato, the belief is Leao will be sold rather than renewed.
In a lengthy piece, he explains that Maldini’s quotes about the Portugal international’s new contract are ‘indisputably reminiscent’ of similar previous scenarios, when both Gianluigi Donnarumma and Hakan Calhanoglu left on frees two years ago, and when Franck Kessie did the same last summer.
Thankfully, there is more than a few months left on Leao’s contract, meaning that the club ‘have more time to negotiate the conditions of an exit’, because ‘the minimum conditions for Leao to remain at Milan for more than another year and a half do not exist anymore’.
While losing the player on a free would be an ‘unforgivable economic sacrilege’, selling him in the near future wouldn’t, especially as clubs such as ‘Chelsea or Manchester City, just to mention the two who have manifestly expressed an interest’ in the forward.
Neither Chelsea nor Pep Guardiola’s side would be limited financially to get their man, and that’s why ‘it is inevitable for Milan to lose Leao within six months’, all the while bringing in a ‘really substantial compensation to the coffers’ of the Serie A side.
Therefore, ‘we do not expect Leao to renew the contract, but instead expect him to be sold either in June 2023, or even in January’.
