According to La Repubblica newspaper, Milan’s balance sheet shows they paid the €20m fine owed by LOSC for the Rafael Leao controversy, in exchange for removing their 15 per cent cut of the sell-on fee.
This could give some indication as to how the Rossoneri see the Portuguese talent’s future at the club.
Leao was signed by Milan from Lille in the summer of 2019 for €29.5m plus a 15 per cent cut of the future sell-on fee.
However, examining the financial paperwork from the club, Calcio e Finanza and La Repubblica noted that those figures have now been changed.
Leao now cost €49.5m to purchase from Lille, meaning Milan paid the full €20m fine that the French club had been ordered to pay to Sporting CP.
Both Lille and Leao were fined for that incident, which saw the player found guilty of breaching his contract to leave Sporting as a free agent in 2018.
Notably, Milan have taken on the full €20m fine and added that to the cost of Leao’s purchase, but in return Lille have removed their 15 per cent cut of any future transfer fee.
This would suggest that the plan is to sell Leao eventually and make a healthy profit on his transfer, without needing to share it with his former club.
Leao signed a new contract this summer that will run to June 2028 with an improved salary.
This was also part of the approach to convince him to sign his new contract when previous was running out.
Milan removed the sell-on clause and gave the player something akin to a signing bonus with single payment.
The problem is that he’s playing terribly this season. The dreams of selling him for £150m in the summer seem very far-fetched; he’ll be lucky to fetch £70 or £80m.
Leao is Milan. Without him, Milan are a bore to watch.