Author: Amrit Santlani
AC Milan winger Rafael Leão has signed a new five-year contract with the Serie A giants, extending the Portuguese winger’s stay at the San Siro outfit until the summer of 2028.
The star striker had been attracting interest from all over Europe, but he only wanted to stay in the Italian capital, thus turning down concrete interest from Chelsea. Léo’s current contract was due to expire at the end of next season, meaning Milan would be in a precarious position of losing him for free next year, but they finally managed to get the Portuguese to commit his future for the next two years.
Having joined Milan from Lille in 2019, Leao has already scored 41 goals in 162 appearances for the club, making him a key figure in their recent resurgence.
He even won the Serie A Player of the Year award last season, when the San Siro club won their first league title in over a decade.
This season, the 23-year-old Portuguese international has helped Milan qualify for the top four in Serie A and also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, but as Léo missed the first leg against arch-rivals Inter, AC Milan were without his creative flair during a lacklustre display in the 2-2 defeat.
Even when the youngster returned for the second leg, he didn’t look fully fit and was guilty of missing a glorious chance to help Stefano Pioli’s side recover as they crashed out of the competition after a 3-0 aggregate defeat.
Léo was also an important figure for Portugal during their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign in Qatar, although the team led by Cristiano Ronaldo was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
During the 2022-23 season, the former Lille full-back played 47 games, scoring an incredible 14 goals and providing another 15 assists for his teammates. This kind of performance led to Léo being linked with Chelsea and Real Madrid, but he has signed a new contract and will probably lead Milan into a new era.