Liverpool have opened a dialogue over bringing Rafael Leao to Anfield this summer.
The Reds have started their transfer window with a blaze of activity, bringing in Jeremie Frimpong as the replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, before looking to add his Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz for a club-record fee.
With reports that the Merseysiders could be about to lose as many as three attackers from their frontline, however, another major move is shaping up in the form of Leao.
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Reports from Spain recently have claimed that Luis Diaz has “no intention” to sign another Liverpool deal beyond 2027 amid interest from Barcelona.
With Federico Chiesa seemingly a certainty to depart the club this summer and Darwin Nunez linked with an exit, too, it appears that there could be a possibility of the Reds bringing another forward to the club along with Wirtz.
Tuttomercatoweb have reported that Liverpool have made contact over a move for Rafael Leao, amid interest from Bayern Munich and three Saudi Pro League clubs this summer.
The Portuguese, ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best left wingers in the world right now, is valued highly by Milan, with a fee of around £120 million touted for his exit.
Sport Witness claims that the 25-year-old is an “insurance policy” in case the Wirtz deal doesn’t go through – but FourFourTwo understands that the Reds fully expect the German to sign at this stage.
It would be incredibly unlikely that Liverpool pay more than even £100m for Leao as a conservative guess, but given Milan’s lack of European football next season and the aforementioned exodus of attackers from Anfield this summer, Leao would move likely join to repace Diaz, Nunez or Chiesa than he would be a backup to the Wirtz deal.
With Milan looking more and more likely to sell Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City, however, the Rossoneri seemingly don’t have to sell another major asset unless Leao demands an exit this summer – though there is hope of a Leao move, with Sport Witness claiming, “Jorge Mendes is involved and he’s hardly going to let a major client miss out on a €100m move if it comes to it.”
Leao is worth €75m, according to Transfermarkt.
