Portuguese international Rafael Leão has finally committed his future to AC Milan by signing his long-awaited new contract at San Siro.
Leão has signed a five-year contract with Milan, tying himself to the club until 2028. Having been in negotiations for well over a year, the former Sporting man says he is delighted to have settled his future with the Rossoneri, where Leão says he feels perfectly comfortable.
“I’m so happy, extending my contract is what I wanted,” Leão told the club’s media. “I told the club and my teammates that my goal was to stay here. Eventually we managed to reach an agreement for me to continue here.
“Milano is my home; the day I arrived everyone welcomed me with open arms. Everyone supported me during the difficult times. Here I can improve on a daily basis. I feel at home. Thanks to the faith in me, I can reach the top and win trophies here. Everyone at Milan is like family to me, they are helping me massively with what I’m doing on the pitch. This enables me to be an important player for the team. That’s what I had been looking for before I joined AC Milan.”
Leão has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season, with one match remaining. The figure is a repeat of his tally from last term, but once again the Almada native has lit up some of the biggest fixtures on the calendar and further propelled himself to star status in Italian football, where he has now been for four year.
“My numbers were pretty low during my first two seasons here,” he said. “I may have left one or two players trailing but I didn’t score when I got sight of goal. But these days I’m a different player, more responsible and aware of when I need to pass and shoot. I’ve become a lot more efficient thanks to the way I’m training and my coaches’ help.
“At a certain point it dawned on Pioli how to raise my level and what I needed to make the difference. Off the pitch he gives me tips every single day.
“My goal is to win as many trophies as possible here. I want to relive those emotions of when we won the Scudetto. That’s when I realised the size of this club. It’s enormous. (Winning the Scudetto) was the highlight of my career. I’m proud and I can’t wait to continue writing my story here.”
Talks over Leão’s new deal at San Siro had been hugely complicated by his legal dispute with Sporting pertaining to his decision to terminate his contract and move to Lille in 2018. An Arbitration Tribunal ordered Leão to pay Sporting compensation, which by this year had risen to over €20m, but recent reports suggest Lille will be obliged to settle the costs.
By Sean Gillen
