Manchester City summer target Rafael Leao has reportedly turned down a contract renewal offer from defending Serie-A champions AC Milan.
After spending time in the youth academy at Amora and Foot 21, Rafael Leao joined Sporting CP’s youth academy at a very young age.
The winger later graduated from the Sporting academy and was promoted to the main team. After his promotion, he spent one season and then joined the French team Lille on a five-year contract. A few days later he established himself as a starter in the Lille team. However, he stayed just one season in France before joining Serie A giants AC Milan for a reported fee of €35m.
In his third season at AC Milan, Leao helped the Rossoneri win Serie-A. The winger was then awarded the season’s Most Valuable Player award. He so far he has already scored 61 goals in 129 games for the Rossoneri.
Manchester City Target rejects renewal offer
Now, English Premier League giants Manchester City hold a keen interest in Portuguese international Rafael Leao.
Since Sterling’s departure, City have yet to sign a suitable winger to replace the England international. They are aware of many sides to replace him and Leao is one of the candidates.
The winger is under contract with AC Milan until the end of 2024. But now, according to Calciomercato, he has turned down a renewal offer from AC Milan and is seeking a departure from the club.
Previously, Milan wanted to keep him at the club for more years. He even turned down many offers in the last transfer window of the summer. But with Leao not interested in signing a contract extension, it is understood that the Rossoneri will be ready to sell the midfielder in the next two windows.
They currently value him at 60 million euros, which is not going to be a problem for Manchester City. They are fully capable of spending that much for Leao’s services.
Pep Guardiola’s team tied up Erling Haaland at the start of the season. The striker has now scored twenty goals in all competitions. Now, if they can add Leao to their build, they will surely have the fiercest front line in the world.
Leao is also very loved by the Chelsea management. They even tried to sign him last summer. But AC Milan were in no mood to listen to offers from him. Now the Blues will get another chance to land the winger in the next transfer window.
In addition to the EPL clubs, French giants Paris Sanit-Germain are also interested in the winger. The Parisians could lose Kylian Mbappe in the next window and are already looking for big names to replace him. So if Manchester City want to sign, they will have to move fast.
