Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for the AC Milan forward Rafael Leão.
The 23-year-old Portuguese international has been linked with a move to the London club on the back of his impressive performances for club and country over the past year.
Leao helped AC Milan win the Scudetto last season and he has started this season in flying from. He has 9 goals and 10 assists for club and country this season.
The highly-rated forward has the potential to develop into a world-class player and the former Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimović has heaped praise on the 23-year-old forward. Ibrahimovic has claimed that Leao has the potential to develop into a future superstar.
The Swedish striker also urged the Portuguese international to believe in his ability, and take the next step in his development.
“Of course, Milan is the right environment for him. Just look at his growth, when he arrived, he was far from the decisive player he is today. Here he is very important for us, elsewhere would he be as important? He would have to start from scratch, you can’t be sure he would be ready right away,” Ibrahimovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“At Milan he has confidence, space and freedom, which is not a given at another club, it’s up to you. Besides, you can see that he is happy here, by now he is laughing even before scoring. He is the young man who has grown the most.
“Theo has improved so much, De Ketelaere is strong, and patience is needed. But Leao is on another level, above average. He lacks a step, he will only do it when he is fully convinced of his abilities.
“Today even he doesn’t really know how strong he is. Then he will be really scary. And the price will go up.”
There is no doubt that the 23-year-old would be an exceptional acquisition for Tottenham, but AC Milan are not willing to sell the player any time soon and he is likely to cost a premium even if he’s available in the upcoming windows.
Tottenham already have players like Son Heung-Min and Richarlison at their disposal, and they might struggle to accommodate Leao in the starting lineup if the transfer goes through in the near future.
The Portuguese international has been linked with Premier League rivals Chelsea as well and it will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the next few months.
