AC Milan asking price starts at €120m for Rafael Leão — report

Chelsea have been keeping an eye on AC Milan’s Rafael Leão, which isn’t surprising given his emergence as a marquee star for the Italian champions. Of course, that status will also make it extremely difficult for any interested party to prise him away from the San Siro, especially with two years still left on his contract.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia), Milan’s asking price starts at €120m, but that’s evidently just the net proceeds they want to collect. The overall fee would be likely closer to the 23-year-old’s release clause of €150m, after the player’s €16.5m personal debt to Sporting CP is cleared, plus the 15 per cent sell-on to Lille OSC is satisfied as well.

That all sounds far too complicated for the final week of the transfer window, not to mention outrageously expensive, but Chelsea apparently “may still try regardless”, which would be quite spectacular indeed.

For what it’s worth Leão is supposedly happy to stay in Italy right now, so maybe we can revisit the situation next summer, as previously rumored.