Chelsea and Man Utd won over as Milan superstar returns to brilliant best

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 17 Mar 2024 12:56 GMT
• 3 min read

Rafa Leao is back to his brilliant best.

There were lots of question marks over the AC Milan superstar at the turn of the year after a miserable first half of the season.

Leao went on a stretch of form where he failed to score in 10 games and also found the net just once in 16 matches.

READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2023/24: Who is Europe’s leading striker?

At the start of February an incredible stat did the round that showed Leao had had only nine shots on target all season.

This led to Milan falling way out of the title race and being knocked out of the Champions League group stages.

Interest in Leao from Europe’s top clubs also started to decrease as questions started to be asked on just what his real level was.

READ MORE: Which football managers have been sacked this season?

But Leao has now answered his critics in recent weeks and is back playing at a sensational level.

Rafa Leao form

He has nine goal contributions in his last nine matches - four goals and five assists.

This includes two particularly world class goals in the Europa League wins over Rennes and Slavia Prague.

Against the former he dribbled past three men and the goakeeper from the half way line to score. Against the latter he curled home into the top corner from 25 yards out.

Leao’s interested parties of Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City and PSG will have no doubts once again about the winger’s abilities.

Leao was Milan’s key player as they won their first Serie A title in 11 years in 2021-22. He was named Serie A Player of the Year, scoring 14 goals and grabbing 12 assists in all competitions.

Last season he struggled to hit the same heights but he still played an important role as Milan reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

This term Leao was underwhelming in the first half of the campaign but has now exploded in recent weeks.