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How Rafael Leao is maturing into key player Milan hoped he would become

Sumeet Paul

Rafael Leao’s time at AC Milan so far has required a lot of patience, but the Portuguese winger is starting to show important and positive signs this season.

The 22-year-old arrived with big expectations and a big transfer fee, with Goal.com reporting in 2019 that the Rossoneri had paid Lille around €35m to acquire his services.

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That kind of investment in a young player who has yet to prove himself at the top level was always going to be a gamble, and in recent years, few of Milan’s risk-tasking moves have paid off.

Leao appeared to be heading down a similar path to those before him who have disappointed, but there are encouraging signs this season that we’re now starting to see the player that Milan had hoped he would grow into becoming.

Statistics starting to go up to quantify Leao’s improvement

There was no denying the raw talent that Leao possessed, but not only was he struggling to translate that into decisive performances, but his attitude and desire were also brought into question following some abject displays.

At this level and for a player trying to prove himself, his lack of aggression and work-rate off the ball was frustrating, and that was seemingly a view shared by Milan boss Stefano Pioli who could be heard constantly encouraging, and sometimes berating, Leao from the touchline to work harder.

At the end of last season, there were perhaps questions being asked of his future at Milan, but evidently Pioli, Paolo Maldini and the club hierarchy all decided that they would continue to show faith and wait for it to click into place for him to become a pivotal figure in our attack.

It’s perhaps taken longer than hoped, albeit it’s easy to forget that Leao is still only 22 years of age, but Milan are starting to see what they need to from the Portuguese ace, as he’s not only picking up his numbers in terms of goals and assists, as seen in the tweet above, but it’s his overall importance and contribution to our attack that is making him a key component in our starting XI.

His pace, directness, energy and confidence to take players on have added a crucial dynamic to our attack this season, characteristics that our other forwards don’t possess, thus making Leao unique in what he brings to the side.

With those attributes named above comes the ability to stretch the pitch and defences, which in turn opens up space for his Milan teammates to operate and be effective, and so he’s contributing both on and off the ball now and has established himself in a stronger position in terms of the pecking order.

Naturally, there is still room for plenty of improvement, and he’ll be keen to surpass his goal and assist tallies from last season as quickly as possible and take his game to another level.

However, what’s important to note at this stage is that he has seemingly now earned the trust of Pioli and has proven himself to an extent to the Milan fans that he can be the real deal and will be a vital part in our pursuit of success this season and beyond.

It’s hoped that he doesn’t rest on what he’s done thus far and feel like he’s proven a point, as if he wants to be a great and write his name into the history of this great club, we need him to continue to go through the levels and become as unplayable as possible while showing an elite level of consistency.

He has the talent to do it, now comes the test of his mentality and strength to do it week in and week out and take it upon himself to take Milan back to the top as he is going to be a long-term pillar of the side if he continues on this path.

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