Milan’s Rafael Leao Has Been Linked With A Chelsea Move, But He Needs To Stay Put

When Milan were slugging it out with Inter at the top of the Serie A table last season, there was the feeling that even though the Nerazzurri were behind, that eventually they would overcome their city rivals. They had more in the locker, more experience, more clutch players who would make the difference in the big games. Milan simply didn’t possess those kind of players, Olivier Giroud aside.

Then Rafael Leao turned up.

The Portuguese forward became Milan’s clutch player, the one who carried the burden with Zlatan Ibrahimovic injured and when Giroud wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Leao stepped up, scoring or providing an assist in the final six matches of the season.

Even if it was a team effort in Milan winning their first Scudetto in 11 years, the general consensus was that it was Leao that dragged them over the line. He was the difference maker between Milan finishing atop the Serie A mountain and finishing second, and having to look upwards at Inter lifting a second consecutive trophy.

Leao had become that clutch player.

This season, he’s continued on his upward trajectory, and Leao has now become one of the most daunting challenges for any defender in the league. How best to stop a quick, tall, physical and nimble 6ft 1 winger who can spin in any direction?

Leao has been linked with moves away from Milan, last summer and this winter. Chelsea reportedly put in a massive bid for Leao in the dying days of the summer transfer window, only for Milan to reject the move due to being unable to find a replacement with only a few days remaining. Yet the Chelsea rumours never subsided, and they only intensified when both teams were pitted in the same Champions League group this season.

Leao has been in talks over a renewal with Milan, but there has been a gap between what Milan are willing to offer Leao and what the player is demanding. Yet there is a hope that both can compromise and a deal struck.

Milan legend Clarence Seedorf believes that Milan is the best place for Leao to continue, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I’d be happy if he [Leao] continued with Milan, it would be the right choice. He still has to improve and, if he leaves, he would risk the possibility to grow. The money will come.”

Seedorf, a man who wore the Milan colours with distinction for a decade, is right. Leao is still on the upward curve of his development. He’s no longer the raw product he was a year ago, but he’s still developing, still smoothing out the rougher edges to his game. leaving Milan now at this stage would be a mistake, a move that could set his career back.

Especially if that involves a move to Chelsea, which can be a bit of a graveyard for young talent (Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, etc.). Still only 23, Leao should at the very least stay at Milan for several more years, hone his skills and then perhaps look about a move abroad. Yet should he help build Milan back to their former levels, then any money requests he would make would likely be granted. Milan’s rise is as linked as his own.

Contract negotiations are set to continue in the New Year, but the smart choice for Leao would be to stay put, and forget about a lucrative move abroad just yet.

As Seedorf says, the money will come, but development comes first.