English Premier League giants Manchester City and Chelsea are in a two-horse race to sign Portuguese superstar Rafael Leao from AC Milan.
After spending some time in the academy of Amora and Foot 21, Rafael Leao joined the youth setup of Portuguese giants Sporting CP.
The Portuguese winger then graduated from the Sporting CP academy and was promoted to the senior side. He then spent one season at Sporting before joining the French outfit Lille on a five-year deal. Under Christophe Galtier he established himself as a starter in the Lille. The winger however stayed only one season in France and then joined Serie-A giants AC Milan for a reported fee of €35 million.
Finally, in his third season with the Rossoneri, Leao helped the club to win Serie-A. The winger then won the Most Valuable Player for the season award. Leao has also made his international debut for Portugal.
Manchester City and Chelsea to Fight for Leao
Leao has continued his great form this season too. The forward has already scored five goals and provided five assists for AC Milan in Serie-A. The defending champions obviously want to keep Leao at Milan. They have offered him a new contract extension.
But the Portuguese winger has reportedly rejected it. And now according to a report from Tuttomercatoweb, AC Milan will be ready to sell the winger if an offer of around 105 million comes in the next January transfer window.
Defending English Premier League champions Manchester City have reportedly found a keen interest in Rafael Leao. The Citizens currently have one of the best squads in Europe. They have ample depth in every position.
But this does not stop them from signing more quality players. Manchester City recently signed, Erling Haaland from Dortmund after paying his release clause worth €51 million. The Norwegian striker has been in great form so far. And now Manchester City wants to take their forward line to another level by adding Leao to it.
Meanwhile, their Premier League rivals are interested in Leao since last summer’s transfer window. They even tried to sign him but Milan were not at all interested in selling the winger back then.
Now Chelsea have once again reignited their interest in the winger. The Blues are looking use players like Pulisic and Ziyech to decrease Leao’s price tag. Boehly has made the Portuguese one of their main targets for the January transfer window.
Apart from Manchester City and Chelsea, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain have also shown their interest in the Portuguese winger. But both Red Devils and PSG are currently far behind City and Chelsea.
Now before the January transfer window, the AC Milan winger is going to be a part of the Portuguese team. Any good performances from the winger will raise his value.
