Leão not for Barcelona. His name alone is no longer enough

Rafael Leão has once again found himself close to Barcelona. Only in media reports, of course — still the one place where Barça can afford absolutely anyone. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Portuguese winger was offered to the club by Jorge Mendes’ camp, but neither Deco nor Hansi Flick showed any interest.

Leão now appears to be close to Fenerbahçe, who are expected to pay Milan around €50 million and offer him €8 million per year plus bonuses. Barcelona decided that after signing Karim Adeyemi and Anthony Gordon, they did not need another winger. Especially one with a superstar price tag who, without the ball, sometimes moves like a guest of honour.

The Portuguese international was reportedly one of Laporta’s dream signings, but it ended with another proposal from Mendes and a polite “no”. This time Barça did not lose the race for the player. For once, they simply did not have time to publicly announce that they were in it.