The likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Real Madrid are circling around Rafael Leao as it starts to look less and less likely that he will be signing a new contract with AC Milan, despite the club’s best efforts.
The Portuguese forward has been the major transfer story for Milan in recent months as his current deal will run out in the summer of 2024.
That means the Rossoneri must sell this summer if they want to receive a high fee representative of his value, or agree on a contract extension with him.
Leao agreement seems further away
As was reported by Sky Sport Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg on Monday night, Leao does not currently want to extend his stay at Milan beyond 2024 as he is not convinced by the offers put before him so far.
This has alerted the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid who have been linked with him over the past year or so.
Incidentally, Chelsea actually held talks with Milan in Qatar and the Diavolo were not interested in the Premier League side’s €70 million bid. They want a figure in the region of €150 million, which is Leao’s release clause.
Milan will keep pushing for Leao extension
It was reported by Calciomercato.com on Tuesday that Milan are refusing to let the situation go and they are pushing to find an agreement with Leao and his agent.
Directors Frederic Massara and Paolo Maldini are in regular contact with Leao’s lawyer as well as his agent, Jorge Mendes.
The renewal is a priority for Milan but it now seems that it may not be the case for the Portuguese star who scored twice at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Something that makes the negotiation a lot harder than normal is the €20 million that Leao must pay to his old side, Sporting CP, due to a dispute over the way he left the club for Lille.
Milan initially offered Leao a contract of €6 million per season, but that is not enough for Leao to say yes considering the high-profile interest in him. Maldini and Massara are now considering raising the deal to €7 million, and that is not necessarily where they will stop.
