Jay Bothroyd has waxed lyrical about Newcastle United transfer target Rafael Leao and how the AC Milan winger is a ‘real handful’ for defenders.
On Wednesday night, Leao was part of the AC Milan team that knocked Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur out of the Champions League to book their quarter-final ticket.
A player of touch, tease and blistering ball-carrying ability, with Leao singing on the pitch by the week, the interest in his services also grows.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United have already broken their club-record transfer on a highly-rated forward from Europe when they snapped up Alexander Isak last summer.
Could they be about to go big again? 23-year-old Leao is a sought-after target and Newcastle United are one of the teams keen on the goalscoring wideman.
If the Portugal International does secure a transfer in the summer, then as former Arsenal striker Jay Bothroyd mentioned, they will be getting a player of immense quality, as he told Sky Sports News (08/03/23).
“You look at AC Milan, they are very capable and they have some great individual players,” said Bothroyd.
“Rafael Leao. He is a real handful. He’s a big guy. Fast and strong. He can shoot and he is scoring goals this year, then there is Theo Hernandez, getting up and down that left-hand side with him. They have a lot of good players.”
LEAO AN UPGRADE ON WHAT NEWCASTLE HAVE
Firstly, the all-action forward is playing for a team in the Champions League and one that is pushing to win the whole competition this season.
If Leao does leave, then surely he wants to join a side already in the Champions League, which then makes Newcastle’s job even more paramount in their top-four race.
A player like Leao is exactly what will take them to the next level because he is an upgrade on Allan Saint-Maximin, Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron.
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