Rafael Leao could become one of world’s best players with transfer to surprise Premier League club

Rafael Leao will be a potential bargain for one lucky Premier League club as the race to sign the AC Milan attacker heats up.

That’s the verdict from European expert Andy Brassell, who believes he could be the Son Heung-min replacement Tottenham needs.

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As one of the more active clubs in the transfer window so far, Spurs have already broken their transfer record twice this summer, following the £100m signing of Sandro Tonali.

That came after Mateus Fernandes’ £85m arrival from West Ham, with Roberto De Zerbi looking to upgrade his attack next.

talkSPORT reported last week that Tottenham are believed to be lining up an £85m bid for Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi.

De Zerbi is also eyeing a new left-winger, with talkSPORT understanding that Cody Gakpo is of interest to Spurs this summer.

However, with the Lilywhites likely needing to pay over the odds for the Dutchman, another World Cup star could represent a bargain.

Rafael Leao transfer latest

Portugal star Leao has already announced publicly he wants a new challenge after seven years with Milan.

Manchester United have been warned against making a move for the 27-year-old, who has been a long-standing Premier League target.

“Rafael Leao is not at the peak of his form at the moment,” Brassell told talkSPORT.com. “But that probably means he’s a potential bargain for some lucky Premier League team out there.

“I suppose he would have surprised a lot of people who had a casual relationship with his football career when he turned up at the World Cup.

“He wasn’t the starter because he is a player who has generated a lot of column inches and a lot of excitement with his YouTube clips and highlights of his goals in the last few years.

“But you know what? He has not really been the same since he won the Serie A MVP in the 2021/22 season, which was when Milan last won the championship, and he was the pivotal player in them doing that.

“If you look at the raw numbers since then, they’re still pretty good, certainly up until last season and in the season just gone.

“He scored nine Serie A goals, but only one assist, which I think is really important because he’s a player who’s always been quite altruistic – started out as a centre-forward at Sporting but developed into a wide player.

“And that’s really where he’s ended up for the bulk of his career on that left-hand side cutting in. But if you’ve ever seen Rafael Leao either on television or in person, if you’re catching him on a good day, you can be really easily convinced that this guy can be one of the absolute best in the world.

“And for that reason and for that MVP title in Serie A in 2022, when Milan extended his contract going forward a year later to 2023, they wrote in a buyout clause of a €175m.

“That was to not just put off domestic competitors, but to put off international competitors as well.

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‘Perception versus reality’

“So that’s why when he’s been linked with clubs in the last year or two, it’s mainly been with Saudi clubs.

“Now, of course, part of that is the fact that he had this great relationship with Theo Hernandez going down the left-hand side at Milan.

“When Paulo Fonseca was there [as manager in 2024] it was felt that a lot of the difficulties that he suffered were to do with the fact that Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao were a bit switched off and didn’t really pay him enough respect.

“I think that’s perception as much as it is potential reality, but nevertheless, when Fonseca got the team together, and he was chatting to them all, Leao and Hernandez stayed on the other side of the pitch and didn’t join in.

“Obviously, it didn’t look great. And sometimes I do feel this is the problem with Rafael Leao: perception versus reality.

“That, due to his laid-back demeanour, people don’t realise how much he puts into it.

“He’s had some stuff going on off the pitch as well – personal stuff that he’s had to deal with which is no doubt affected him.

“But as we said, even with him playing below potential, the numbers have actually been pretty good if we overlook the fact that he didn’t create as much as he might have done last season and, in fact, all the numbers have been down.

“But what this has meant is that there’s a potential bargain there. We talked about that 175 million euro buyout clause.

“No one’s paying even half that at the moment. There’s no question of that.

“So this brings the Premier League teams back into the picture. It’s not just about the Saudi clubs. And he’s shown a real disinclination to go to Saudi.

“He wants to stay in Europe, and he wants to test himself in the Premier League.”

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Leao to Tottenham?

Leao put himself in the shop window perfectly at the World Cup, with a goal and an assist in only one start across his five appearances alongside Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Portugal.

“He said before the World Cup that he thinks this is the moment for him at 27 to separate from Milan,” Brassell added.

“So I guess the question is: can he do it, and where is the fit? He can definitely do it. We’ve seen that in this World Cup.

“In fact, in that rather scratchy last 32 performance that Portugal gave against Croatia, he was one of their better players.

“He’s brilliant on that left-hand side, creating the winner with a fantastic cross for Goncalo Ramos. How much is he as well?

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“So underlining exactly what an impactful player he can be any given moment. Before you look at his dribbling and his speed, the way he can change pace and direction. It just glides on the ball. It looks so effortless, almost like Thierry Henry in that sort of slot.

“He never looks like he’s busting a blood vessel, but he’s completely outpacing others. So the second bit that who really see?

“We know Tottenham were interested in him, and that would be a really interesting bit, a big upgrade for him for them on that left-hand side.

“Of course, since Son [Heung-min] has gone, they’ve not really had a player of that sort of explosive quality in that sort of area of the pitch, and I think they are comparable because even though Son did become more central in the closing part of his time, it’s first we know Rafael now can do that.

“We know he can come inside and score goals as well, and maybe the fluidity of the Premier League and the pace of it really works for him in that sense in the sense that he’s always fighting for the right to counter-attack.

“Now look, there are loads of other clubs that he could end up at, but with Tottenham really nailing their colours to the mast in terms of getting out there in terms of battering down all the previous cliches about them not spending money this season – He would be a huge, huge upgrade in attack.

“Working with a coach as intense as Roberto De Zerbi might get the best out of him consistently, which is exactly what he needs at the age of 27 if he’s really to become one of the best players in the world.”