Chelsea have reportedly received a boost in their pursuit of AC Milan superstar Rafael Leao, with fellow suitors Paris Saint-Germain to focus on other targets this summer.
The Blues have been linked with the 24-year-old winger for several years and some members of the London club’s hierarchy would love to bring him in.
Poch: Chelsea proved we are brave ….
Chelsea are now reportedly considering a move for Leao at the end of the season. That is no surprise, either, given that he is considered to be one of Europe’s best players on his day.
He has made 195 appearances in total for AC Milan, scoring 52 goals and making 44 assists in the process. That gives him an impressive average of 0.49 goal contributions per game.
Leao’s attacking spark would certainly come in handy at Chelsea. Raheem Sterling has also been ‘put up for sale’ by the Blues, so he could potentially be a long-term replacement for him.
Chelsea, however, would have to cough up a huge transfer fee to sign the Portugal international, something that’ll be difficult given how much they’ve spent in the last few windows.
PSG pull out of race for Rafael Leao
According to reports from France, as cited by GOAL, signing Leao is ‘no longer an objective’ for PSG this summer, giving Chelsea the chance to potentially swoop in for his signature.
The winger has a €175 million (approx. £150m) release clause in his contract, which any of his suitors would likely have to match to bring him in this summer.
PSG would be able to afford that fee as a result of Kylian Mbappe’s pending departure, but they are set to focus their efforts on signing a new striker.
Ironically, one of their top centre-forward targets is Napoli goal machine Victor Osimhen, who has been heavily linked with Chelsea for months.
Whether or not Chelsea would be willing to match Leao’s £150m release clause remains to be seen, but it’s likely that they would have to sell several players to sanction such a deal.
As mentioned, Sterling could be on the way out this summer despite his wishes to stay at Stamford Bridge. Along with him, Trevoh Chalobah, Connor Gallagher, Robert Sanchez, Armando Broja (on loan at Fulham) have all been linked with departures.
In any case, convincing Leao to leave the San Siro would be a difficult task.
In a recent interview, when asked about the links with PSG, Leao said: “Where do I see my future? Here, where I am happy.
