Once valued at €120m, Chelsea can now sign ‘Ronaldinho-vibes’ player for just €40m
Chelsea are very unlikely to sign another attacker between now and the end of the transfer window.
Chelsea have already paid £117m to bring in Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, while Mykhailo Mudryk is available again.
Mudryk could join Coventry City on loan this summer, and there are some doubts about Pedro Neto’s long-term future. But if both players depart, the Blues will still have Geovany Quenda and Estevao Willian, who can support Rogers and Cole Palmer.
However, if the club do want to sign a new winger for whatever reason, one of their former targets is on the market at a very low price.
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Rafael Leao available for just €40m
Chelsea have long been linked with Rafael Leao, but the 27-year-old has remained at AC Milan.
Back in May, it was claimed that Leao’s camp had contacted Chelsea about a potential deal. The Club World Cup winners did not bite, but you would not blame them for changing their stance now.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan have put Leao up for sale and are willing to let the Portugal international leave the San Siro for a fee of just €40m.
In the past, Milan have demanded triple that. A few years ago, Calciomercato (via ESPN) reported that the Italian giants wanted €120m for their wide attacker.
No one was willing to pay that, but now valued at less than €50m, you would expect someone to take a stab.
Owen Hargreaves has compared Rafael Leao to Ronaldinho
Whoever signs Leao this summer, if he does leave Milan, will be getting a player who has been likened to the legendary Ronaldinho.
Former Manchester United and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves can see similarities between the two but thinks Leao needs to become way more consistent before he can be described as a world-class player.
Speaking about Leao on TNT Sports, Hargreaves said: “He’s Ronaldinho-vibes, sometimes, when he’s on it. I think to be world class, you’ve got to be consistent. Because he’s a bit flaky and a bit loose at times, he’s probably just missing that gap to world class, but the talent’s there to be world class.”
The chance to become a world-class forward at Chelsea now looks to be gone, though.
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