Dramatic case of Rafael Leão: After reportedly looking to rescind his contract, Leão is set to stay after contract validation
It is fair to say that it has been a turbulent couple of months for Rafael Leão; having rescinded his contract with Sporting after the violent scenes that occurred at the club's training ground, he signed a contract with Lille in early August - but things have been far from straight-forward.
Alongside Sporting demanding significant payment in compensation for the loss of their player - who they say did not have suitable reasoning for terminating his contract - Lille have had further difficulties of their own. Due to financial troubles, the French league have prevented Leão from being registered into their squad, unable to play for Lille due to restrictions placed on his new club until they managed to comply with the financial obligations placed on them.
With the transfer window coming to a close and Lille seemingly not making sufficient money in sales to rectify the situation - even signing another Portuguese player in Rui Fonte - Leão's future at the club looked increasingly doubtful, leading to reports that the highly-rated youngster was set to terminate his contract with the club.
The 20-year old's contract termination would have led to him facing a long period of time without being able to find a new club; indeed, like with Adrien Silva at Leicester City last season, he would have been unable to play football again until the transfer window reopened in January 2019, which would have meant only further uproar for the young star's career.
However, such reports are now known to be wide of the mark, with Lille announcing on social media that all four of their latest signings - Jeremy Pied, Fernando Costanza and Rui Fonte all in addiiton to Rafael Leão - had had their contracts validated and, as such, had been cleared for future selection in the match-day squad.
Leão then himself responded on social media, all but completely debunking any suggestions he was to terminate his contract with the club with the simple tweet of "Allez Losc".
It looks like, after a couple of months of turmoil, Leão, the former Sporting youth product, is finally set to see his future completely resolved.
