---
title: "Manchester City: Blues make contact for Rafael Leao"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/ac-milan-transfer-news-leao-premier-league/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Adam Clancy"
section: "Manchester City News"
published: "2022-12-29T13:15:39Z"
modified: "2022-12-29T13:15:39Z"
---

# Manchester City: Blues make contact for Rafael Leao

**[Manchester City](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-city-news/) have reportedly made contact with the father of [Rafael Leao](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tag/rafael-leao/) over a potential move from AC Milan in the January transfer window.**

### The Lowdown: Back to winning ways

City got themselves back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory away at Leeds United on Wednesday night.

However, the result still leaves them [five](https://www.premierleague.com/tables) points behind league leaders Arsenal, and Pep Guardiola could look for an extra attacking reinforcement in January in order to help close the gap on Mikel Arteta’s side.

### The Latest: Leao contact

As per Italian news outlet [Tuttomercatoweb](https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/tmw-milan-forte-pressing-del-manchester-city-per-leao-i-dettagli-1772489), City are ‘serious’ about signing Leao, and have made ‘important contacts’ with his father over a potential move to the Etihad Stadium.

Milan hope that he will renew his current deal at the San Siro having offered him €7m (£6.2m) a year in salary, but City intend to offer him a significantly better contract worth €12m (£10.6m) a year.

### The Verdict: Get it done

With exit rumours regarding both [Jack Grealish](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-city-news/man-city-jack-grealish-transfer-news/) and [Bernardo Silva](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-city-news/man-city-bernardo-silva-transfer-news/) surfacing, City should be looking to get a deal done for Leao not just for this season, but as a long-term purchase.

Hailed as a ‘[diamond](https://twitter.com/sporx/status/1532090562958049284?s=20&t=BckT5YC-BkAE5dHRh9s2uQ)‘ by Milan legend Paolo Maldini, the winger boasts 34 goals and 30 assists in 135 games in total for the Serie A giants, including 16 goal contributions so far this term ([Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/rafael-leao/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/357164/plus/0?saison=&verein=5&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=)).

Sharing a [similar playing style](https://fbref.com/en/players/20730eae/Rafael-Leao) to Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min and Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, the Portugal international would be destined to thrive in the Premier League, but City may have to pay close to his [€150m](https://twitter.com/sporx/status/1532090562958049284?s=20&t=BckT5YC-BkAE5dHRh9s2uQ) (£132.6m) release clause to sign him.

Nonetheless, at just 23 years of age, Leao could be a mainstay in the side for the next decade.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”410621″\]