Man City join Liverpool in race to sign £129m star, but there’s a problem

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Manchester City have reportedly joined Liverpool in the race to sign Rafael Leao, however, the AC Milan superstar wants to stay in Italy for next season.

According to CalcioMercato, the Portuguese international is aware of interest from the Premier League, with Pep Guardiola’s side, Liverpool and Chelsea all keeping tabs on the former LOSC Lille superstar, but as per the report, Leao wants to stay in Milan following his best season yet with the Rossoneri.

The versatile attacker played a huge role in Milan’s Serie A title win, and Leao is eager to continue his development at the club where he has become a regular under Stefan Pioli and is only getting better with each new season, with the winger bagging 14 goals and 12 assists in all competitions.

With a release clause worth a reported £129m, as well, it will take a Premier League-record bid to sign Leao this summer despite interest from City and Liverpool, with both clubs already spending huge to strengthen their attacking options over the transfer window.

The Reds broke their club-record transfer to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica, whilst City won the race to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in what could arguably be the most exciting move of the window so far, and these two moves could cancel out an approach for Leao.

Indeed, the 23-year-old forward was one of Milan’s best performers last season, and with Leao only getting better and more complete with the San Siro side, it makes sense why the attacker is holding off signing for a City or a Liverpool this summer.

Leao is making the right decision not signing for City or Liverpool this summer

Leao is destined to become one of the best attackers in Europe, yet staying with Milan for one extra season rather than jumping the gun and heading to one of the continent’s biggest sides could be one of the best career decisions the Portugual international ever makes.

After all, Leao has only just had his first majorly impressive season with Milan, and building on from his numbers in the new campaign will be a good indicator of whether or not City or Liverpool should be forking out a huge transfer fee to sign the Serie A superstar.