Chelsea have had a €100m (£86m) bid turned down for AC Milan winger Rafael Leao, according to AS reporter Manu Sainz.
The Spanish journalist doesn’t give much further detail on the offer, but he does say that Milan have told the Blues that they will have to pay the Portuguese international’s €150m (£130m) release clause if they want to secure the player’s services:
El Milan ha rechazado una oferta del Chelsea de 100 millones de euros por Rafa Leao. El club italiano se remite a la cláusula (150 millones). Más información en @diarioas
— Manu Sainz (@Manu_Sainz) September 1, 2022
It’s very unlikely that Chelsea will decide to smash their transfer record for Leao in the closing hours of the transfer window, but stranger things have happened in the past.
The pacey forward is a player that has been on the London club’s radar all summer but Milan have been pretty consistent with their transfer stance so the reported bid was never likely to succeed.
While Chelsea may not be able to snap up Leao, though, they are expected to bring in one new name ahead of the transfer deadline. Multiple sources claim a move for Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is close to being finalised.