Milan are studying a new pair of forwards: Thuram with Leao who will have the number 10

Rafa Leao during the renewal negotiations with Milan raised his hand – metaphorically, let’s say – and asked for the number 10 shirt. Now that Brahim Diaz has sent his uniforms to a new address, here we are: Milan, unless of unpredictable turns, has a new 10 and the choice is particular. The second Portuguese 10 after Rui Costa, the most fascinating since Clarence Seedorf. Merchandising managers are celebrating: people like the new shirt and with the new combination it promises to sell a lot. Leao is also liked because he has the brushstroke of a 10 and a taste for frescoes, for creative improvisation. Sometimes he is absent from the game and this is more easily forgiven on a 10. In addition, he scores: 11 and 15 goals in the last two championships, with the clear promise of attacking 20. Rafa has shots to score more.

Thuram decides

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A new attacking partner could lend a hand. Milan lost Tielemans yesterday and continue to consider the attack – not the midfield – the department in which to intervene. Brahim Diaz and Real Madrid yesterday made it official that they have an appointment with the world: Tuesday at 12 there will be a conference to present the new agreement, signed until 2027. Marcus Thuram is the next to have to say something to the world. Lilian’s son has been collecting offers for weeks and has already said no. Milan and Inter, at different times, have come forward and are waiting for an answer. Inter pressed for a long time, Milan at different times: they asked for information early, Maldini and Massara favored other leads, Furlani and Moncada returned to make themselves heard decisively from Monday. In this story, the favorites have always been PSG, which has a different budget and attraction capacity: they can offer 6.5-7 million per season, an amount that Milan will give next season – including bonuses – to Rafa Leao. In Paris they have many thoughts – one above all, the choice of coach – and Milan hope that they can be a source of distraction.

In Italian

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In short, the match will be played in the next few days and tomorrow could be an important day. Milan focuses on prestige and centrality in the project: it is clear that Thuram in Milan would immediately be fundamental, less so in Mbappé’s team. Stefano Pioli has already called him and it is not difficult to understand in which language they spoke: Italian, which Thuram speaks very well.

The couple

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Thuram and Leao together would be a great transition couple, the real specialty of Milan 2022-23. Pioli gives his best when he can recover the ball and restart vertically… and with those two, he would enjoy himself. Rafa attacks the goal from afar, Thuram is very good when he can attack in the spaces, jump a man in speed, surprise a non-deployed defense. Of course, neither of them is a serial scorer: Thuram has never gone beyond 16 goals in the season, in 2021-22 he stopped at 3, in the last Bundesliga he reached 13. This would be a topic. Different pros and cons, on the other hand, in the event that a more classic 9 like Scamacca arrives at Milan, another player with whom Milan has spoken in recent days.

Congratulations Rafael

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The centrality of Rafael Leao, in this context, does not change. Rafa has been in Lisbon these days with his family and shortly (17 and 20 June) will play two qualifying matches for the European Championship with Portugal. Opponents: Bosnia and Iceland. Then he will go on holiday, knowing he will have to return to the Rossoneri – speaking of numbers – on … July 10th. Yesterday he collected social greetings for his birthday: messages from Calabria, Giroud, Theo Hernandez, Daniel Maldini and many others. At the end of the photo parade, one number remains in the lead: not 10 but 24. Rafa has turned 24 and at 24 you have two thirds of your career ahead of you, you can improve in everything that is in your heart, from music to goals. And then, a prediction: one day Rafa will be a central striker, he will no longer need to start from the left and he will score 20 goals in the league. In the same style, from 10.