Will Chelsea, who are on the lookout for a striker, pay £86m for Portuguese talent Leão?

If Chelsea definitely need to strengthen somewhere, it’s in attack. where it can be assumed that either now in January or in the summer a new big name will come in. According to journalist Simon Phillips, who focuses almost exclusively on Chelsea, that coveted reinforcement for Graham Potter could be Portuguese winger Rafael Leão.

The English coach has started very well at Stamford Bridge, winning 5 of his 6 opening games in his new job. The Blues even knocked AC Milan to their knees twice with a 5-0 aggregate scoreline. However, it hasn’t been the same lately, as things kicked off with a 1: 4 defeat at Brighton, the former home of coach Potter.

Then Chelsea beat Dinamo Zagreb, only to be followed by three defeats – Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle. The Blues did not score a single goal, but the performance on the pitch was not so tragic.

However, it showed the fact that Chelsea lack a goalscorer who will regularly keep the team afloat. And Potter and his teammates seem to have looked to the Portuguese winger.

Leão has scored 7 goals and assisted 9 more in 20 games for the Italian outfit this season. He is an absolutely key player for AC Milan, who spent just under €30 million for him in the summer of 2019, which of course means he won’t come cheap. Moreover, the 23-year-old Portuguese has a contract until 2024.

However, according to Milan News, the Almada, Portugal native is not about to sign a new contract with AC, which the club is reportedly offering him.

Moreover, he is doing quite well at the World Cup in Qatar, despite not playing in the starting line-up. In the 62 minutes he was given by coach Fernando Santos, he managed to score twice. And he can be counted on to add a few more minutes.

This will no doubt attract other suitors. But according to the aforementioned journalist Phillips, the most active club is Chelsea in London, which, according to Calciomercato, would have to come up with a sum of around £86 million.

Into all of this could fit the news that the server Fichajes came up with, which reported that AC Milan have turned their attention to Ferran Torres, who, although a regular in Barcelona, usually comes on the pitch during the game.

There is probably no doubt that Leão will leave for a better one sooner or later. However, his other goals at the World Cup could hasten that, with Portugal now facing Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Sources: Fichajes, Calciomercato, Milan News, Twitter