AC Milan’s rapid winger willing to wait for Tottenham Hotspur.
Rafael Leao’s stock has been rising all summer, and the latest word from journalist Daniele Longo is about as green a light as a club like Tottenham could hope for.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Longo said the €50m Leao‘s desire is to reach the Premier League, that he’s willing to wait for Tottenham, and that he’s ready to say yes even without Champions League football on offer should a concrete offer around €60m materialise. AC Milan have already accepted his desire to leave, both publicly and privately, and that combination, willing player and willing seller, is about as close to green as these stories get before ink actually hits paper.
The football case barely needs making. Leao is a genuine box-office wide forward, praised as a “genius” by his own former manager, powerful and direct in a way this squad has lacked out wide for two seasons running. That he’s prepared to skip Europe entirely to join a rebuilding project says something about how highly he rates De Zerbi‘s vision, or how motivated he is to finally test himself in England.
Rafael Leao to Tottenham?
Here’s where the scrutiny needs to land, though. Spurs have already spent north of £230m this summer, and the club’s own recruitment picture shows real muddiness in the front three. Kudus, Kroupi’s ongoing pursuit, Xavi Simons sidelined until winter, and now Leao, all occupying similar territory as attacking wide options. Good, we need star attackers, but think more like a player with depth than spread. Like an all-out striker instead of an all-size-fits-one. Our options in the #9 zone seem quite thin, and maybe we need to throw light there.
There’s also the uncomfortable financial reality that this is a player willing to accept no European football, which, translated honestly, means Milan and the player both know his market has narrowed and Spurs are one of the few clubs both able and willing to pay this fee for him right now.
At some point someone at the club needs to be asking whether the attack is being built with a plan, or simply assembled because good players keep saying yes [which is also good, and all credit to RDZ’s project].
If De Zerbi actually has a system that fits Leao, Kudus and whoever else survives the cull, this is the kind of signing that turns heads well beyond N17. Here’s hoping for the best. And preparing for the extreme worst.