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Milan rumored to have completed a deal for Lille’s Rafael Leao

20 year-old Leao has only been at Lille for a season after joining from Sporting in Portugal

Lille v Reims Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images

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

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.