Club wins race for Rafael Leão

After a month of speculation, Rafael Leão’s future is decided.

Recently, Lille president Gerard Lopez revealed that as many as eight clubs had shown interest in their 20-year old striker in an interview with Tuttosport.

“Our desire was to Rafael Leão, but we received several approaches for him, even more than for Pepe" - which says everything you need regarding the incredible buzz around the striker.

He continued: “There are eight clubs interested in Rafael Leão, four of them are Italian.”

Those four clubs were AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma, while the four non-Italian sides were believed to be Aston Villa, Everton, Valencia and Wolves.

Of all of those sides, one has come out victorious in the race to complete his acquisition - AC Milan.

The Italian outfit are set to sell Cutrone to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while fellow Portuguese striker Andre Silva is also widely expected to be on his way out of the club, leaving the perfect opening for Leão to come into the side.

The former Sporting forward will cost Milan approximately 35 million euros, with Lille expected to keep 20% of his economic rights.

During his one season in France, he bagged 8 goals and 2 assists in 26 league appearances as Rafael Leão demonstrated his pace, physicality and composure, showing all the attributes you look for in a forward player.

Leão joined Lille last summer after he unilaterally terminated his contract with Sporting in the aftermath of the violent scenes at Alcochete.