Leão as AC’s greatest weapon! The Slavia defence must be on alert. Look at the stunts of the star Portuguese

Rafael Leão started his professional career at Sporting Lisbon, working his way up through the youth teams to the senior team. Even then, he showed great footballing potential, which he is now demonstrating to the full. He is clearly AC’s biggest offensive weapon and Slavia’s biggest threat.

In any case, Leão has also had a successful junior career, having celebrated the European championship title with the national under-17 team. He scored 7 goals in 12 games for Sporting’s B team, but only played in five games for the A team, scoring two goals.

This was due to a muscle injury that Leão picked up during the season. After the 2017/18 season, the Almada native left Sporting in response to the poor conditions at the club. Club president Bruno de Carvalho put the Portuguese outfit in financial trouble, who tried to blame practically everything on the players and officials.

But the young star’s departure was caused by Sporting fans themselves, who attacked the players and the management team at the training centre in Alcochete before the title decider. At least he won the domestic cup with the Lisbon club.

However, Leão was not without an engagement for long, and almost immediately French side Lille showed interest in him. It sent 20 million euros to Lisbon, so the now twenty-four-year-old Portuguese international could start his career in Ligue 1. However, he spent only one year in France.

His final tally was 26 games played, 8 goals scored and 2 assists. His performances helped Lille to the second place in Ligue 1. After that, however, he was transferred to San Siro, where he is still active today.

Leão at AC Milan

And it was this combination that was a perfect fit. After his transfer from Lille, Leão quickly joined AC, which was slowly coming out of the dark times. The Rossoneri finished the 2019/20 season with 66 points, finishing sixth in Serie A, but with solid prospects for the future.

The 24-year-old winger has already started 31 league games in his debut season in an AC jersey, scoring six goals.

In the following season, AC finished second, with Leão scoring 6+6 in 30 games. His greatest career achievement came in the 2021/22 season. Milan reached the Scudetto, leaving Inter, Napoli and Juventus behind. It was also a very successful season for the star Portuguese from an individual point of view.

He scored 11 goals in 34 league games and assisted 10 more. In Italy, he was deservedly named player of the season, player of the year and footballer of the year. It was a season in which he made it clear to everyone what he could do.

In fact, you can see his amazing football stunts in the video below. It should be noted, it was a breakthrough season for both Leão and AC.

Mbappé’s replacement? But where…

The Rossoneri have been back on top of Serie A ever since, fighting for the title or Champions League participation every year. Likewise, Leão has understandably seen better terms, with PSG even scouting him as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe.

But from an individual perspective, last season was the best for him, in which the star Portuguese netted 15 league goals and added another 10 assists. In short, he is an indispensable player for AC, according to Transfermarkt his market value is 90 million euros.

However, to acquire him, the Parisians would have to slap themselves in the pocket. The club’s management is aware of the sometimes unbelievable qualities of its star, so they have included a truly astronomical sum in the exit clause – €175 million.

However, as the Almada native has already expressed several times, he definitely doesn’t want to go anywhere. According to his words, he is happy in Milan, with whom he wants to one day conquer Italy again.

Source: AC Milan, YouTube, Transfermarkt