AC Milan forward Rafael Leao is a future Ballon D’Or winner, former Portugal international Jorge Andrade tells Tuttomercatoweb amid interest from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Leao be warned; AC Milan will not bow down to excessive demands.
The Rossoneri proved that to be the case when they parted ways with Hakan Calhanoglu, Franck Kessie and Gianluigi Donnarumma, letting three of their star players depart via the back door after contract talks broke down. Leao, with just over 18 months left on his own deal, could go the same way.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Sporting Lisbon whizzkid is now ‘closer than ever’ to leaving the Scudetto holders, dropped recently by Milan coach Stefano Pioli with contract talks dragging on.
The seven-time European champions, TMW add, currently have ‘no intention’ of meeting Leao’s demands. The jet-heeled winger has a £130 million release clause in his contract, but hopes to knock some £60 million off that fee with Chelsea and Arsenal just two of the clubs preparing to test the waters (Dean Jones).
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham like AC Milan forward Rafael Leao
Andrade, meanwhile, believes that – if Leao was to leave – Milan would be depriving themselves of a man capable of winning football’s greatest individual prize.
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“I’ve known him since he was a child,” Andrade says. “He has this calm way of being on the pitch. But, when he takes the ball, he becomes a lion. He can win the Ballon d’Or. He’s too good.”
Calciomercato believe that Tottenham are also admirers of Leao; coming up against the explosive 23-year-old during last week’s Champions League round-of-16 first-leg defeat at the San Siro. Spurs, The Times say, are scouring the market for long-term Heung Min-Son replacements. Leao, seven years his junior and similarly influential off the left-hand side, ticks a fair few boxes.
“He is an incredible player. Truly impressive,” veteran forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang says of a man who shares his penchant for match-changing contributions when drifting in from the left-hand side (TMW).
“(Leao) is very fast, powerful, he can make a difference at any moment. Nothing else to say except that he is incredible.”
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