Paolo Maldini reveals the advice he gave to Rafael Leao when first coming to Milan, including why ‘obsession and discipline’ are more important than talent, and why the club ‘cannot live on memories’ of San Siro.
The Portugal international is now one of the world’s hottest properties on the transfer market and is ready to sign a new contract with a reported €175m release clause.
“Leao is an extraordinary talent. I am an aesthete and watching Leao is something pretty unique. He has what it takes to become a top player,” Maldini told the Muschio Selvaggio podcast.
It was a surprisingly big investment when Milan swooped for Leao from LOSC in the summer of 2019 for €29.5m and he struggled to show any kind of consistency in his first few seasons, before becoming a key figure in the Scudetto victory of 2021-22.
“He was sitting on the bench at Lille and when he arrived I told him that he only played for his Instagram, because he’d put up these videos of wonderful dribbling skills and moves, but at the end of the season he’d only have two goals.
“We helped him to change that mentality. Someone so talented has to work more than the others to make the most of his talent. You see, talent helps in sport, but obsession and discipline make the difference. There are players who for example lowered their fitness levels and mentality due to injury and were never the same again.”
Leao also has a side career as a rapper and is about to release his second album.
“Once he asked me if he could release his record on Friday and we were going to play the next day. He said in music you release albums on Friday. I said alright, but on Saturday he had to score two goals.”
Maldini is now one of the chief decision-makers at Milan, the club where he spent his entire career, following in the footsteps of father Cesare as Champions League winning captain here.
Of all people, he ought to have that emotional bond with the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, but he is pushing to knock it down and build a new arena, whether it’s just for Milan or shared with Inter.
“If we want to live on memories, then we can stay at San Siro. History is made by players. This is already not the same stadium that was built 80 years ago, it went through a lot of changes. So do we cling to those memories or build a new modern stadium that can allow us to increase revenue? The thing that irritates me the most is that city of Milan has understood this, so it’s not possible to miss out on such an opportunity.”
Milan reached the Champions League semi-final and Inter will face Manchester City in the Final, but the differences in budget between these clubs is simply enormous.
“Milan was a big club until 2007, then struggled to keep up with the level of revenue generated by clubs like PSG, Real Madrid and Manchester United,” confessed Maldini.
“In purely financial terms, Milan now battle and lose on the transfer market with clubs who finish 18th in the Premier League. The economic power of these clubs is superior to ours, but in Italy we have tradition and ideas.”