Rafael Leao sparks controversy at Milan. Will he stay in Italy after this?

Rafael Leao is in the world's sights. Not only because of the rumours that link him to FC Barcelona, ​​but also because of a gesture he made this weekend in AC Milan's 1-2 defeat to Parma on Matchday 2 of Serie A. Paulo Fonseca's team is still without a win at the start of the 2024/25 season and the striker would not have liked the behaviour of one of his fans at all and would have responded accordingly.

Leao participated in the play of Christian Pulisic's 1-1 draw and then made the gesture of silencing while looking at the stands where the Curva Sud is located, where the ultras of the 'rossonero' team are located. Apparently, the gesture was against a specific fan, as the footballer clarified on his social networks: "The gesture was never and will never be for the Curva Sud, who supported me in all my most difficult moments. They are, perhaps, the only true fans who accompany us in difficult times. The gesture was for a specific fan who made a negative comment at the time we were losing. "No Milan player goes on the pitch to play badly on purpose. We honour the shirt from the beginning to the end of every match," wrote the 25-year-old.

He also included in his reflection that he will continue to take risks as he always does. "I will not change my way of playing. Yesterday's match is over, now it's time to focus on the next battle." The Portuguese ended his message, which he published on his Instagram stories and ended with a "Curva Sud, always with you."

Will Leao arrive at Barcelona this season?

In recent days there has been talk that Leao is the last name on the list of Barcelona's favourite wingers. However, despite the fact that Leao is a fan of the Catalan club because he is a great admirer of Ronaldinho and that he would not be against leaving Italy, everything indicates that it will be extremely difficult for him to leave Milan this summer. In addition to this, the CEO of the San Siro team, Giorgio Furlani, assured that there was "zero possibility" of the Portuguese leaving this summer.

The winger is one of the favourites of the Blaugrana president, Joan Laporta, but right now everything indicates that Federico Chiesa will be the one chosen to reinforce the attack of Hansi Flick's team. From Italy they suggest that Juventus is willing to make his transfer to Barcelona possible for around 10 or 15 million euros. euros, which is the board's best chance of securing a top signing at a very low cost, compared to the Leao deal, for whom Milan were asking more than 100 million.