Recent rumors from Spain suggested Barcelona was keen on Rafael Leao and was preparing an offer, but Milan have every intention of keeping their ace, especially with so little time left in the transfer market window, Gianluca Di Marzio reports.
The winger had a €175M release clause early in the summer, but no side came close to activating it. The Rossoneri could have perhaps agreed to his sale in recent weeks for a mammoth fee, but that’s no longer the case.
While nothing will happen with Leao, Barcelona could sign a different Serie A star, Federico Chiesa. They are in touch with his agent Fali Ramadani. They’ll have to shake hands with a player first. Other sides have had big trouble achieving that. The deal could happen without makeweights.
Per Tuttomercatoweb, the Blaugrana would have let the Rossoneri choose one or more players in their roster in exchange for the Portuguese. The options would have been Raphinha, Andreas Christensen, Inigo Martinez, Ferran Torres, and Alejandro Balde. Some of them would have had to be convinced to leave Catalunya. The Spanish team doesn’t have the resources for a very pricey acquisition for now. They’d have to sell one or more among Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo, and Frenkie De Jong to build their budget.
Our Take on Barcelona and Leao
It’d be a stunner if something occurred this late, and it most likely won’t. The Chiesa transfer is a lot more likely as the Bianconeri would settle for a small sum or a not-so-shiny player in return.
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It’s clear what Barcelona management are trying to do. They know they are not getting Leao but they want their fans to believe they went after a big name before settling for Chiesa from Juventus. Their real target is Chiesa and Leao is just a smokescreen.