By the looks of it, the gym isn’t among Rafa Leao’s ten favourite pastimes, creative at heart as he is. Rafa and Francisco Martins, his trusted fitness coach, recently shared images of the work the Milan number 10 is doing in the gym. Let’s put it this way: happier men have been seen. After all, Leao enjoys himself when he can use the ball, and he especially enjoys it when he feels fit… which hasn’t happened for months.
He got injured on 8 December in Turin. At first it was described as inflammation, but it soon became clear that the problem was largely related to pubalgia. And pubalgia is no joke: you never know when a footballer will return at 100%. For Rafa, that day hasn’t come yet, as pointed out by La Gazzetta dello Sport in this morning's print edition.
What he is doing to return to Milan, however, is just around the corner: it’s tomorrow. Eight days ago, Leao went abroad to assess the issue that has been limiting him for four months, and on Wednesday he was in Portugal, where he saw his twins, born over a year and a half ago, and worked on his physique. Following him, as has happened for many years, was Francisco Martins, a coach who also works with Ruben Dias, Francisco Trincão, and several other Portuguese players. Leao was already training with him at the beginning of March, as evidenced by the usual videos posted on Instagram. Rafa trusts him, and Milan is monitoring everything from a distance: in recent days, the Rossoneri medical staff has stayed in contact to track his progress.
Rafa Leao in Naples:
At this point, a Milan fan raises a hand and asks: yes, but will Leao return on Monday for Napoli-Milan or not? Rafa would like to, of course, and there is a good chance. After all, Naples evokes special memories. In the spring of 2023 – three years ago, yet it feels like a lifetime – Leao was in the city twice within sixteen days. In the league, he scored twice, but it was the Champions League that separated Rafa from ordinary players. In the quarter-final return leg, he cited Gullit like the great artists: he accelerated on a counterattack with half the city chasing him, just as Ruud did in 1988, and opened the door for Giroud for one of the simplest goals of his Milan career. There were 47 minutes plus stoppage time left, but Spalletti’s Napoli left Europe at that moment.
How the decision is made:
This time there is certainty: the decision about playing in Naples will be made jointly by Leao, the doctors, and Massimiliano Allegri. Last time, before Milan-Torino, being left out of the squad wasn’t particularly easy for him, and with Leao, it often goes like that: too strong and inconsistent to be uncontroversial. Milan and Rafa, however, have a shared project, and they will have to reason around that. The idea is to restart and live through two months, if not as thrilling as the grand finale of 2022, at least reassuring.
Leao and the World Cup goal:
Summer is just around the corner, and the World Cup is calling. In recent years, Leao has always been important for Portugal, never indispensable. Useful in attack, never the centrepiece of the national team. So, at 26, Rafa is trapped in an eternal paradox. Seen through the eyes of a spectator from 50 years ago, he would seem like a machine built for football, with a remarkable combination of physique and speed. To the eyes of today’s Milan fans, he is just a fascinating, annoyingly unfinished phase.
