Lille set price for Rafael Leão amid interest from England
Rafael Leão, widely regarded as one of the greatest players to come through Sporting’s acclaimed academy, has had his price set for any potential suitors.
He may have only arrived at Lille last summer, but the 20-year old had an impressive impact at the French club - and has already been dubbed the “Portuguese Mbappe” by parts of the media.
In total, he bagged 8 goals and 2 assists in 26 league appearances, a decent return in what was his first season at the club - and his first season as a first-team regular of a senior team.
Indeed, Rafael Leão demonstrated his pace, physicality and composure last season, the like of which is rarely seen in such a young striker, and had been linked with some of the biggest clubs across the continent.
Lille, however, are not overly keen to sell the talented forward, though are willing to see him depart if the offer is right.
And it is believed that Lille are willing to accept an offer in the region of 35-40 million euros, a highly reasonable fee for what is essentially the most promising out-and-out striker Portugal currently have emerging from their ranks.
And that’s no small feat. Portugal, it must be said, have a wealth of talent coming through the academies of the biggest clubs in the country, but Leão is still perceived as Portugal’s most likely future international striker, possessing all the attributes you want in a number 9.
Nevertheless, Lille are reportedly willing to accept a fee of just 35 million euros - which is an impressive deal considering his quality.
Indeed, in a day where 19-year old João Felix is sold for a monstrous 120 million euros, the prospect of being able to sign Leão for just a third of that price is very difficult to comprehend, and to turn down - and English clubs could be set to take Lille up on their offer.
Both Aston Villa and Marco Silva’s Everton, for example, are understood to be very interested in the Portugal U21 international, and you can be sure that others will also enter the race to sign the Sporting academy graduate, who would surely be very well suited to the English game.
La Liga’s Valencia are another club looking into the possibility of signing Leão, who is unsurprisingly a man in demand.
