Man Utd eyeing bold swap deal for Rafael Leao

Based on Caught Offside, Manchester United are weighing up an bold swap deal for AC Milan winger Rafael Leao throughout the summer time switch window.

The Purple Devils have certified for the Champions League after a two-year wait, however there’s nonetheless loads of room for enchancment. United could concentrate on touchdown a brand new left winger in the summertime, and Leao has now emerged as a main goal.

Caught Offside declare that Man United are lining up a player-plus-cash deal for the previous Lille man. Leao has two years left on his contract which has a staggering £152 million launch clause, however he may very well be signed for a considerably decrease payment.

The Rossoneri may settle for a payment of round £44 million for a part-exchange deal. United may provide certainly one of Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee or Marcus Rashford as a makeweight to deliver the Portuguese winger to Outdated Trafford forward of subsequent season.

Competitors

Matheus Cunha was signed to strengthen the left-wing division by the Purple Devils final summer time. The Brazilian has had a good debut marketing campaign with 10 objectives and 4 assists from 35 appearances throughout all competitions.

Nonetheless, United nonetheless want extra purpose contributions from the left aspect of the assault in the event that they need to problem for silverware. Patrick Dorgu has impressed as a makeshift left winger on events however he doesn’t possess the dribbling expertise or creativity of a specialist winger.

Leao can be a superb competitor for the place. He has had low-impact at Milan this time period with simply 13 purpose contributions, however that has been primarily resulting from enjoying as a second striker alongside Christian Pulisic in a 3-5-2 formation below supervisor Massimiliano Allegri.

In 2024/25, Leao operated as a specialist left winger and his statistics had been far superior with 12 objectives and 13 assists. The 26-year-old has distinctive dribbling expertise and has the tempo to get behind opposition defences, which might swimsuit Purple Devils’ enjoying model.

The massive query stays whether or not he would settle for a rotational function alongside Cunha subsequent time period. At Milan, he has been a constant starter on the left wing, however received’t have the identical assurance on the Purple Devils below Michael Carrick, who is about to change into the everlasting head coach.