Luca Bianchin, a journalist, spoke to 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' about the future of Rafael Leao, the Milan forward who is set to leave the club:
"But what has happened in the last few hours? There have been continuous overnight contacts between Aston Villa's management and the player's representatives. In fact, he would prefer the Premier League to Turkey. The push from the Istanbul club, therefore, has not been successful. The offer from across the Bosphorus remains in pole position, but Rafa's desire certainly matters. So it is not over yet. Far from it."
And what will happen now?
"Galatasaray must try to convince Leao to say yes to a move to Turkey. What weapons do they have? The usual one: money. They have been offering Rafa a very important contract for some time, but Leao has never accepted it while waiting for other offers, and now the situation is evolving. On the other hand, Aston Villa, who had already moved this week to bring him to Birmingham, making an important offer to Milan (higher than Gala's) but never managing to go beyond €6.5 million per season for the player, must try to play one final card, perhaps by increasing the salary a little further. The bottom line is that the Premier League is very attractive to Rafa, but the difference compared with the €12 million on offer from Turkey is significant. The next few hours will be decisive, crucial. But what is now certain is that Leao will no longer be a Milan player this year."
