Galatasaray Favourites for Rafael Leão?
Aston Villa are very much outsiders in the race for Rafael Leão. AC Milan have reportedly accepted a €45m (£38.5m) package from Galatasaray for the player, whose camp had been holding out for wages north of €10m a year net to accept the move, a demand Galatasaray have now met according to the Turkish press.
Loan vs Permanent Deal
Villa are still in the conversation, but as MOMS wrote previously, they are compromising their chances by pushing for a loan with an obligation to buy, while Milan are holding out for a straight permanent sale this summer. The proposed loan of Tammy Abraham to Ipswich Town will certainly help free up wages to meet the player’s terms though.
In terms of the desired make-up of the deal, we’ve been here before with Villa’s loan interest in João Palhinha, which Bayern Munich ultimately snubbed in favour of a permanent transfer with Benfica. However, there would be a strong obligation to buy this time.
Mr Consistent
Leão’s contract at Milan runs to 2028, and the fact that they have missed out on the Champions League this season has probably contributed to the 27-year-old’s desire to seek pastures anew.
The Portuguese international has been a consistent performer for the Rossoneri, having been largely injury-free, playing on average 32 league games a season and scoring on average over nine league goals a season too.
Emery’s Personal Touch
Villa are reportedly still in negotiations, but currently the deal is looking like it’s going the way of the Palhinha deal, unless something drastically changes. Fabrizio Romano has stated that Unai Emery himself is in contact with the player, giving him the hard sell.
It’s been suggested in the press that the player’s own preference leans toward a Premier League move, but none of that changes the fact that Galatasaray are the ones putting a proper transfer fee on the table right now and of course can also offer the player Champions League football.
The move doesn’t have the same urgency as Villa’s original need for an out-and-out striker in Nicolas Jackson, but Emery will feel his squad is still light in attacking options for a Champions League campaign.
If the player ends up at Galatasaray, it’ll say something real about the state of Villa’s finances: despite considerable sales this window, the structure they keep proposing to selling clubs suggests this is being driven by accounting need rather than footballing choice.
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