The saga surrounding the compensation fee owed by Rafael Leao and former club Lille to Sporting CP could finally soon be put to bed as the French club have reportedly decided to put an end to the matter and settle the €22m fee they have been ordered to pay in the courts.
Sporting are owed compensation after Leao unilaterally terminated his contract with the Portuguese giants and joined Lille following an attack by the club’s ultras in the summer of 2018.
A decision in the courtroom deemed that Sporting were owed €16.5m plus interest and the cost of their legal fees, citing the original €45m release clause written into Leao’s contract before he effectively left on a free transfer.
The International Court of Arbitrations for Sport ruled in February 2022 that Lille were responsible for paying the fine. A legal back-and-forth then ensued, which saw the Court of Milan deem Leao responsible for settling the fee with his former employer, before the burden became Lille’s again in April 2023.
The dispute over the fee has been a major stumbling block in Milan’s attempts to offer a new contract to Leao, whose current deal at San Siro expires in the summer of 2024.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the executives are working hard to ensure the transaction occurs swiftly. The report claims that Milan’s senior management remains optimistic, with the necessary caution, that Leao will be able to sign a new deal with the club.