Appointment before the Champions League: the crux of the Sporting fine remains, but the club remains optimistic. And he returned early to Milanello
After the commitments of the national teams and before the double challenge of the quarter-finals of the Champions League: here we are. It’s time to record a new episode of the Leao-Milan series. It could be one of the last episodes, if not the grand finale.
The set is ready: the club and Rafa’s sizeable entourage had made an appointment for this period. It will shoot in the next ten, fifteen days at the most. Leao is once again a leading actor with Portugal: as a left-footed winger, who took over for Luxembourg, he created four chances in a quarter of an hour, including a penalty obtained (later missed) and a goal. He also wants to take the stage back with the Rossoneri: he returned to Milanello 24 hours ahead of the scheduled lineup. Yesterday he was already at the sports center for a light workout: he’ll be back shooting today. He hasn’t scored with Milan since mid-January, a goal crisis that affected the team’s performance and the contractual affair. Rafa distracted by the rumors about the renewal and therefore inaccurate in front of goal? Or, on the contrary, Leao imprecise sills and therefore less attractive on the market? True both.
Summit
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For Milan Rafa retains all his charm, beyond the bad moment: the club remains determined to renew his contract and reward him with the richest offer ever made. If it were up to Leao and the club, we’d already have a happy ending. Rafa is sincerely attached to the team, he demonstrated it with his early return and more. On social media he dedicated a post to Maignan: the photo of the spectacular save against Ireland accompanied by the title “great player”. The affection towards the teammates is reciprocated: it is one of the reasons that fuel the optimism of the club. However, the cast that participates in the contract soap opera is much more numerous and includes the official agent, his family and his advisers. Not everyone follows the same script: there are those who find it more convenient to seek their fortune elsewhere. Where, though? At the moment, no concrete offers have arrived: Rafa has been proposed to the top European clubs who, for now, have not picked up. The summer market is made up of many combinations but Milan can’t and won’t wait. He trusts that in the next meeting the plot to follow will be defined once and for all: if an understanding will be reached or if it will be goodbye. And then he will immediately undertake to find a serious and determined buyer. Going straight into the action. There is a third hypothesis: that Rafa and Milan renew and that at a later time the club, strengthened by the new deadline, sells the player at higher prices.
Many things
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Speaking of numbers. How many is Leao worth today? From three-digit claims, exceeding one hundred last summer, we have dropped to 70. But a protagonist finish in the championship and above all an exploit in Europe can raise the price again. On the contract, he starts again from the figures of the past. Rafa is asking for a salary of 7 million plus an additional signing fee and the contribution to the 16 million compensation he owes to Sporting Lisbon. Milan offers a slightly lower salary (Leao would still become the highest paid of the team), other bonuses linked to personal and group performance but without participating in the payment of the fine. Moreover, recent performances do not allow you to go crazy. Such a salary would still exceed the 7 million paid to Ibra a year ago. On the fine, there is no channel between the two clubs, Milan and Sporting: the legal case does not directly involve the Rossoneri, who could only help Rafa with a personal bank transfer. An additional bonus, or other permitted forms, which however the company has no intention of recognizing. He will recover from here, but with the idea of reaching a turning point. The club doesn’t want to go any further: April will see the double Champions League confrontation, in May the race for the first four places in the league will continue. The spotlights must only be turned on on the pitch: it is no coincidence that Giroud’s annual renewal will be formalized in the same period, i.e. in the next 10-15 days. The Rossoneri’s hope is to double the signatures and announcements. Otherwise we will move on to greetings: it is excluded that Leao starts a new season at Milan as a potential free agent. In the meantime, however, there is an ongoing season that is still open: to achieve his goals Pioli will need Rafa. To which he asks for a signature on the field, in the meantime.
March 29 – 07:45
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
