Milan believe they are ‘on the same path’ as Rafael Leao and his representatives in terms of a potential contract renewal that could keep the Portuguese attacker at San Siro on a longer term basis.
Technical director Paolo Maldini himself admitted before the Champions League clash with Milan on Wednesday that the club’s ‘confidence is growing.’
“But this is not the right day to discuss this,” he continued. ”We are on the same path, Leao and us, so we have a common objective.
“Leao is a decisive player, he proved it in Naples and last season as well, perhaps only in patches this term. Consistency is his problem, but he has improved in leaps and bounds since he first arrived here.”
There are still some fairly major details to agree on between Milan and Leao, particularly in terms of the wage packet the 23-year-old has requested.
Leao has been reported by Gazzetta dello Sport to have requested annual compensation of €7.5 million plus bonuses, whilst Milan would prefer to get a deal done for a figure closer to €6.5 million.
There is still, of course, the major issue of the €20.3 million fee owed to former club Sporting CP after terminating his contract in Lisbon back in 2018.
It was recently revealed by Portuguese outlet Record that Lille will now have to take responsibility for the settlement fee owed to Sporting, which continues to grow with interest with each passing month.
Leao himself approved the news that his former club will have to take on the eight-figure financial burden by liking Record’s post on Twitter.
But, the fact that Leao is no longer individually responsible for paying the €20 million+ fee should be a major boost to Milan in contract negotiations according to Gazzetta.
The report claims that representatives from the two parties could begin to discuss the finer details of a contract extension after the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Napoli on Tuesday.