The Ronaldo-Rafa Leao swap offer
FT Desk
- 29 Sept 2022 07:31 BST
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Leao would have swapped leagues - if not clubs - had super-agent Jorge Mendes got his way this summer.
Ronaldo and Leao have been together on international duty with Portugal recently, helping their nation to second in UEFA Nations League Group A2.
Ronaldo has gone nearly 400 minutes without a goal for Portugal, and national newspaper A Bola and futsal legend Ricardinho among others have suggested the national team would be stronger without him, with youngsters like Leao given a greater chance.
Jorge Mendes trying to get Ronaldo out of Manchester 🚜 pic.twitter.com/Q2FS9d46BA
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 31, 2022
But Mendes would have had Ronaldo replacing Leao at AC Milan this summer. Todd Boehly wanted Leao as a leader of his new, rejuvenated Chelsea attack, while Ronaldo was desperate to find a Champions League club after Manchester United's failure to qualify.
"Jorge Mendes desperately wanted to bring Ronaldo to a Champions League club," Sky Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio explained. "I can tell you that he tried with Milan. Yes, Mendes wanted to bring Leao to Chelsea - or to PSG - and to give Ronaldo to Milan already in the summer.
"The deal ended immediately because Milan didn't want to let Leao leave. Milan's strategy is based on youngsters.
No from Napoli
"So, Mendes tried it with Napoli. Mendes and Aurelio De Laurentiis have an excellent relationship. Mendes offered De Laurentiis €100 million to bring Victor Osimhen to United with Ronaldo going the other way on loan. Napoli wanted United to pay Ronaldo's salary and demanded €120m for Osimhen and the deal never happened."
Ronaldo instead stayed at Man Utd but has found himself as second choice to Marcus Rashford for the No.9 spot in Erik ten Hag's 4-3-3 set-up. He has a single goal this season - a penalty against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.
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Leao has contributed three goals and six assists in eight games across all competitions already this season for Milan. Sporting director Paolo Maldini admitted recently the club are desperate to tie him down.
"Rafael's grateful to us and I listen to what he tells us," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "He understands that his path over the next few years must be at Milan, and we know we must pay top players their value."
