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AC Milan have reportedly made a deal to land Portugal U21 and Lille striker Rafael Leao in a €35 million deal. Leao joined Lille last summer after coming up through the youth ranks at Sporting Clube de Portugal, and it’s also been reported that Lille
RMC Sport: #ACMilan agree a €35m deal with #Lille for #Portugal U21 striker Rafael Leao https://t.co/pGNeI23woI #LOSC pic.twitter.com/tjhGMRnliw
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) July 26, 2019
Leao would be an future-looking move for Milan, as he is seen as an up-and-coming player in France with a huge upside. He did manage to score eight goals and rack up two assists in 24 league matches last season for Lille, and it’s widely expected that he would be a good fit in an attacking system like Milan will play under Marco Giampaolo.
However, this rumor comes out of nowhere, and seems like a lot of money for Milan to spend on a player that is relatively unproven at a high level, as he’s only a couple seasons removed from playing with Sporting’s B side in the second division of Portugal. Big expectations will come with a big price tag, and he will end up being compared to flop Andre Silva should his Milan career not get off to a hot start.
If this rumor does end up being true, then Milan might have landed an in-demand young striker, but let’s hope it all ends up being a much better move for both him and the team than the deal that brought Silva to Milan from FC Porto.