The Lille president Gerard Lopez has revealed that there are eight clubs currently showing interest in their 20-year old striker.
It has been common knowledge for some time that several clubs have been interested in the Portuguese U21 international, and Lopez had already hinted at Leão’s exit this summer, stating that the club have received “important offers” for the talented forward, also commenting that the finances are something his French outfit can’t compete with: “If we talk about salaries, we cannot compete.”
He has since taken that a step further, though, and, in an interview with Tuttosport, revealed the extent of interest in Leao from across the continent.
“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 are AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma, while the four non-Italian sides are believed to be Aston Villa, Everton, Valencia and Wolves.
He may have only arrived at Lille last summer, but Leão 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, showing all the attributes you look for in a forward player, and clearly has both the finishing and link-up play to serve as both a quality striker and winger.
It means he possesses the ability the like of which is rarely seen in such a young striker, and has since been linked with some of the biggest clubs across the continent.