According to Calciomercato, Wolverhampton Wanderers ‘would like’ Rafael Leao, after missing out on him over the summer.
The 21-year-old nearly left AC Milan after struggling for form last season, but he ended 2019/20 strongly and has shone this campaign.
Calciomercato say Wolves need a replacement for Diogo Jota, who left to join Liverpool, but might we actually be content with our current options?
What went wrong with our previous bid to sign Leao?
Reports in Italy revealed we were battling Juventus and Atletico Madrid for the 21-year-old over the summer as he was coming off the back of a disappointing campaign in Milan. He’d struggled for starts due to stiff competition from Krzysztof Piatek and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the Rossoneri were unwilling to sell so we opted for Fabio Silva from FC Porto instead.
Will we return in January?
Calciomercato say so. Nuno has Raul Jimenez tied down to a long-term deal and has Silva as cover, but he’s still ‘doting’ on Leao. Unfortunately, the same report says Milan are unlikely to listen to any bid we put their way.
Leao has scored three goals and made three assists in eight appearances across the board too, so why would he be granted an exit? If only we had pursued him harder months ago before his stock rose, we may have had more like.
Summary
Leao is a great player, but I think we’re wasting our time. The Portuguese U21 international has been in fine form this season and seems happy at the San Siro, so he might not want to leave in January.
Leao would be an ideal signing as he’s represented by Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency and has 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), but we’ve left it too late.
We still have Vitinha, Silva, Daniel Podence, Adama Traore and Pedro Neto at our disposal, so we’re not short of options in attack.
In other news, what are Wolves planning to do with Oskar Buur?
