Chelsea transfer news: Maldini confident that Leão will sign new Milan deal

Portugal star is a wanted man 

AC Milan sporting director Paolo Maldini is confident that star forward Rafael Leão will sign a new contract with the club in time, to fight off interest from the Premier League. The Portugal international, who is currently valued at €70 million, currently has a deal with the Serie A giants that is set to run until the summer of 2024. 

“Rafa understands that his path in the next few years must be at Milan, he understands it and tells us,” said Maldini in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Then there will be a negotiation but we know that strong players must be paid for their value.” Having previously been linked with a move to Manchester City, more recent rumours have suggested that Chelsea may now be leading the charge for Leão, as they continue their search for a long-term striker solution. 

AC Milan forward Rafael Leão has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea this year

But Paolo Maldini isn’t worried about the rumours pic.twitter.com/Hywhj6cnA2

— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) September 26, 2022

Chelsea spent the summer window gutting their forward line, selling Timo Werner back to RB Leipzig and sending Romelu Lukaku back on loan to Inter Milan. And while new manager Graham Potter may have plans to use Raheem Sterling as his preferred No.9, there are still constant reports suggesting that the Stamford Bridge side’s hunt for a new striker isn’t over. 

However, while Maldini admits that a player of Leão’s quality will demand a huge contract to stay in the Italian top-flight, he also believes Milan could do enough to keep the player content in Serie A. “If the team grows further, Leao will have everything to compete to the maximum,” added Maldini. “Then of course, there are no non-transferable players for all the teams in the world. If we can say that there is a good chance of finding an agreement with him and Sporting? Yes, with him, yes.”

Goals and assists bring added value and major interest from England

Of course, a quick look at Leão’s success since making €29.5m move from Lille to Milan in 2019 clearly points out why the 23-year-old talent would be of interest to clubs like Man City or Chelsea. Although the young forward only managed six goals and two assists in 31 league games in his first season at the club, that improved to 12 goals and assists in his second season, then almost doubled to 21 in 34 league games last season. And in this current campaign the former Sporting graduate currently has three goals and three assists in just six league games. 

This, naturally, has seen Leão’s market value skyrocket in Northern Italy. When the forward first made the move to Milan in 2019, his market value stood at €22m. It rose slightly to €28m in his first 12 months at the club, but then began shooting upwards based on last season’s success with the club, which saw Milan win their first league title in 11 years. As such, in the space of 12 months and three market value updates, Leão’s value shot up from a slight dip to €25m up to where it now stands at €70m. 

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