Rafael Leao confirms he has no intention of leaving AC Milan amid Chelsea interest
According to TuttoMercatoWeb (h/t Football.London), Chelsea are willing to include three players in a player-plus-cash swap deal to beat Manchester City to sign AC Milan forward Rafael Leao.
The Portuguese international has been linked with the Blues since the summer transfer window. The player is said to have a release clause of around £130.5m, with his current contract expiring in the summer of 2024.
Keeping that high asking price in mind, the Blues would be open to offering Christian Pulisic, Armando Broja or Hakim Ziyech to lower the overall price of the deal.
Leao has been one of the best forwards in the last 12 to 18 months. His 11 goals and 10 assists were one of the key reasons why Milan won the Scudetto last season after a decade-long wait.
The 23-year-old has been in great form this time around as well, with six goals and nine assists in 18 appearances in all competitions. Though in both games against Chelsea the former Lille man could not impact much, external caveats included, he has shown consistency in Italy for quite some time now.
Leao can operate anywhere across the forward line, although he is favoured on the left wing more often than not. Chelsea have lacked dynamism and constant goal threats from their wide forwards in the last few seasons. They have relied on goals coming from different sources rather than a few dependable ones
As a result, the Blues have struggled to score enough goals to be in a conversation for a title challenge in the last few years.
If they manage to sign Leao, they would have a player who is direct on the ball, can take defenders on and is good at producing the numbers that matter to help the team win games of football.
Having tracked him for the last few months, it is probably time for the Blues to make a move for the 23-year-old, be it in January or next summer.
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