If Brahim leaves, he will leave 17 for 10. Otherwise, watch out for 7. End of the soap opera with a single chord. Base at 5 million but bonuses month after month, not at the end of the year
June 2 is the feast of the free republic of Rafa Leao, a nation where people smile, express themselves with music and dribble past life’s problems. Milan will today announce the renewal of the contract with its most decisive player – when he is at his best, Rafa is the team’s strongest player – and will put a stop to the most complex negotiation in recent years. Starting tomorrow, negotiation will be material for the agents’ manuals, for the stories of managing directors and sports directors: how to resolve a tug of war that involved three nations (and not two), two agents (and not one), more of an international court. But first, something new on the horizon.
number 10
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Rafa Leao today will officially become Milan’s highest paid footballer, he has been one of the image men for some time and an iconic move is making his way in his head: changing number. Leao has been playing with 17 since he’s been at Milan and in the summer he could … break down the figure. Rafa is thinking of playing with the 7 but in his head the most suggestive hypothesis is another: to use the 10 of Rivera, Gullit, Savicevic, Boban, Rui Costa, Seedorf. Rafa belongs to the category for talent, he has the ease of playing of the greats and in a Serie A weakened compared to the 90s he is simply one of the players with the most style. Rather, he affects the alternation of numbers in his career. Leao had the 93 at Sporting and the 7 at Lille, he uses the 15 with Portugal and as a child he played with the 9, sometimes with 11, 16, 20, 21. The Milan fans are fine with that: change your number , not team. This time a lot will depend on the transfer market because – Milan fans know it – those two chosen numbers are busy: 10 belongs to Brahim Diaz (and 7 to Adli). And then, more than an expropriation, it would be a handover. If Brahim will be elsewhere in July, Rafa would take the 10. It would be the beginning of a new AC Milan life.
The Neverending Story
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Leao arrives at this appointment later than usual. His contract was deposited 20 days ago but the announcement was postponed to today first due to priority commitments – those two matches against Inter in May… -, then due to the latest disputes: it was a question of defining an agreement with the Sporting Lisbon, who hoped to postpone the practices to July so as to record the collection on a new balance sheet, and with father Antonio, who has often been a loose cannon in this story. The detail makes it clear how everyone’s collaboration was necessary to get to Leao’s signature. Di Rafa, who decided to join Milan, the CEO Giorgio Furlani, decisive in the last few months of negotiations, Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, who have worked on this agreement for years, and many lawyers at work in three countries: Lorenzo Cantamessa (son of Leandro) for Milan, Antonio Leo for Leao, Patricia Moyersoen for Lille, Marco Correia de Oliveira for Sporting Lisbon.
the contract numbers
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The result is a complex contract, with a fixed base of 5 million and a series of special, progressive bonuses which will not come into force at the end of the season – as in the classic multi-year agreements – but several times during the year. In practice, Leao will see his salary increase step by step, with variations from season to season: in 2023-24 he will earn more than 7 million, in the following years it could stabilize at 6.5, net of the classic result bonuses. The deadline, as expected, is the longest possible: 2028. The 175 million clause that has been mentioned for the whole of May will be present but exercisable only in a summer window, in July, so as to allow Milan to control the fate of the its most representative footballer.
message to the world
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At the end of these months of push and pull, of phone calls from Chelsea and quarrels, Milan can take a deep breath and look to the future. Today he will publish a press release, a video, the photos already taken and it will be a message to the world: Milan have renewed with their most desired player and, if Diaz leaves, they will give him the number 10 shirt. The big names in the Premier League are free to call with a triple-digit offer – and in that case Milan will make its assessments – but the road is traced: Leao is ready to become the heir to the great Rossoneri talents. If it happens, get ready to see many children with black 10 on a red background: Rafa’s republic, where you dribble freely and play with a smile counts more than defending, they will certainly like it.
June 2, 2023 (change June 2, 2023 | 00:13)
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