From €100m Chelsea bid to no demand – Milan’s Leao paradox explained

Rafael Leao’s situation in the transfer market in recent seasons has left many people confused, with the once sought-after winger now seeming to have no suitors.

As reported by Calciomercato.com, Leao has gone from being the subject of a €100m bid from Chelsea, to having no teams chasing him this summer.

The Portuguese winger is still viewed as the prized asset at Milan and the player that, should he leave, fetch the greatest fee of anyone in the team.

This season, though, his poor performances seem to have taken a toll on his worth and the poor display against Genoa recently reignited some feelings of ill-will towards the winger.

With Leao now close to his 25th birthday, the feeling is that he must now make the leap in quality to being a more consistent performer.

After Milan won the Scudetto in 2022, Chelsea tried to sign Leao and presented a bid of €100m and a contract that would have seen him earn €12m per season.

Now, though, it seems no Premier League club or Paris Saint-Germain would be willing to breach the €100m mark for Leao, thanks to his inconsistencies. This is good for Milan in the sense that they get to keep a settled and talented player, but the assumption has always been that he would move on for a huge fee.