Wolverhampton Wanderers spent the summer transfer window looking for a striker to accompany Raul Jimenez and were linked with Hee-Chan Hwang, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlo Vinicius, Danny Loader and Emmanuel Dennis, but Rafael Laeo was a player they stood a good chance of signing.
The 21-year-old is Portuguese, represented by Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency and played with Rui Patricio (Sporting CP), Ruben Vinagre (Portugal U16s, Portugal U17s, Portugal U19s, Portugal U20s and Portugal U21s), Bruno Jordao (Portugal U19s and Portugal U20s), Pedro Neto (Portugal U20s, Portugal U21s), Daniel Podence (Sporting CP) and Diogo Jota (Portugal U21s), so he would have been a perfect fit for Nuno Espirito Santo.
We tried to sign him from AC Milan but the deal fell through and Calciomercato (h/t Sport Witness) have explained why.
What happened over the summer?
According to Tuttosport, Wolves, Juventus and Atletico Madrid were all interested in Leao after his disappointing debut season in Milan. The 21-year-old joined the Rossoneri from Sporting CP in 2019 and made 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals with three assists.
Stiff competition from Krzysztof Piatek and Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw Leao start only 12 of his 33 games while being substituted in seven of them, so clubs tried their hand at signing him. Calciomercato don’t reveal how much we offered for the Portuguese striker, but they say Milan rebuffed our efforts which forced us to sign Fabio Silva from FC Porto.
How is he getting on at Milan?
Pretty good. Leao has made 7/10 appearances (345/630 minutes) across the board this season, scoring three goals with three assists, so he looks unattainable now. Ibrahimovic and Lorenzo Colombo are breathing down his neck, but Leao has been an important player under Stefano Pioli.
Milan are currently top of Serie A with 13 points from a possible 15, having won four and drawn one of their five games. They’ve scored two or more goals in every match so far, so Leao is at the right place. Silva has only racked up 40 minutes of Premier League football in his debut season, so he’s had a modest start to life in the Midlands.
