There were summers, in very recent times, that began with a very clear mantra at Casa Milan: Rafael Leão is untouchable. In recent seasons, regardless of directors and coaches, one constant has remained the belief that the Portuguese number 10’s stay was vital, the team’s star and highest-paid player.
This time, however, that is no longer the case: Milan will not be overly concerned in the event of his departure, Cardinale has made this clear, and Leão has taken the opportunity, effectively putting himself up for sale. Things, though, are not going as planned.
Just a few days after the end of a disappointing season, Rafael Leão openly stated that he wanted to leave Milan during the summer. No one at the club said anything. And no one intervened even when, a few days later, the Portuguese player repeated it on two different occasions, one of which had actually been made before the end of the league season and broadcast afterwards. His intentions were very clear, also because Gerry Cardinale himself, as reported by 'La Gazzetta dello Sport', had effectively written him off. Leão’s idea was to use the highly attractive showcase of the World Cup to draw the attention of high-profile suitors.
A flaw emerged in this plan that he had not anticipated, however,: for now, Leão is a substitute for Portugal. He has not started a single match, has not played more than 20 minutes in three games, and has scored one goal at the end of the rout against Uzbekistan. In this way, it is difficult to get anyone to fall at your feet...
No offers for Leão:
The direct consequence of this very limited use at the World Cup and, more generally, of an extremely underwhelming season, is that Rafael Leão currently has no major offers. There have been zero proposals from the leagues he himself said interested him most: the Premier League and La Liga. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Manchester United rejected the idea, while with Arsenal there was a video call that did not lead to any developments in that sense. At present, the only interest that appears to remain is from Galatasaray. Perhaps it is also because of this rather discouraging scenario that Leão has toned down his statements after scoring at the World Cup: he said he will decide after the tournament and after speaking with Amorim.
