Leao should have been sold by now.
No, I don’t believe Leao has shown enough to be worthy to risk this on. If he and Bennacer were insistent on being turds last summer we should have sold. We can’t get into the habit of trying to “convince people of our projects” and go through these negotiations mid season (that itself is already a distraction, we’ve seen with Kessie and now Leao)
Literally doesn’t matter what his agent says, it’s naive to even bring those things up.
The fact is he’s not renewed and we are losing more leverage by day.
If he wants to build with you and you want to build with him, you keep him.
If he doesn't, you sell him this summer. This is different to the Kessie situation, in my view.
The legal complications made this sticky, the filings made that abundantly clear to anyone who wanted to look.
Bennacer is a very good player, you sorted out his contract, he signed, done. You say he was a turd, why? He didn't let contract negotiations bother him--he has shown up. He didn't make a drama. He signed. He was supposed to be another "test case" for Maldini that has transformed into another "doesn't count."
Milan believe they have a unique talent in Leao. They are giving him strong contract terms. Mudryk is on 3.2m plus 1m in bonuses, Felix is on 3.5m, so Milan is offering a strong package for Leao, he has good reason to stay.
I also think what an agent says, when it comes to negotiations does matter. Those comments are public and impact how each side approaches the situation. Kessie's agent and Leao's agent approached things very differently.
Bennacer got rid of his previous agent to stay at Milan, the man brought in a Raiola to close the deal. Leao moved Mendes to the side (if not completely moved on from him) to get someone new. If we are going to make parallels between players, then you can't shrug at stuff like this.
I dunno. If he gets sold, I'll be disappointed, and it would make me reconsider how I view this project--how we react to the sale and our ambition would determine whether I think we have regressed or have just moved on from a player.
Just my two cents bro.