Manchester City are another side who are looking to exploit the misfortunes of Sporting Lisbon by prying away Rafael Leao this summer. To be fair to the Citizens, Pep Guardiola and the rest of the club’s ownership has agreed to pay some compensation fee for the 19-year-old instead of signing him for absolutely nothing.
The idea is to escape any legal consequences for the player who has asked Lisbon to terminate his contract following the unfortunate assault in the club’s training grounds last month. A horde of masked fans had attacked Lisbon players after the club failed to secure a Champions League spot for the upcoming season.
The team goalkeeper, Rui Patricio has already ended formal terms with the club and has agreed to play for Wolves in the next season. A number of the club’s players including Leao are expected to follow into the 30-year-old’s shoes although Sporting has requested them to overturn their requests in hopes of receiving a decent transfer fee in the process.
The Portuguese outfit does not plan to keep any of their players hostages and would rather enjoy seeing Leao play for a team he is interested in. The 19-year-old now will have to make an affirmed decision with City breathing down the club’s necks for a permanent trade.
The striker only appeared in 5 games for the Leões last season but did manage to catch City’s eye with his performances for the B side. Leao made his Primera Liga debut in February under Jorge Jesus (who has also terminated his contract and has joined Al-Hilal) against C.D. Feirense.
He is one of the brightest prospects in the country with 43 caps already registered to his name for the Portugal youth sides. The youngster is versatile in the attacking front and can play both centrally as well as from the wings.
Blessed with heaps of pace under his boots and a quality touch on the ball, Leao has the potential of becoming a leading figure in the European top-flight. He would be another one of City’s talented acquisitions although not at the same breath as Gabriel Jesus, the club’s leading number nine.
Pep Guardiola has chosen to rotate Jesus and Kun Aguero in the centre-forward role, giving preference to the former. Leao would understandably be made available for a sporadic role but there is no guarantee over the future of Aguero at the Etihad.
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Should the Argentine quit, an important position will open up for Leao with the English champions.
