Leão Rafael
Rafael Alexandre da Conceição Leão is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Portugal national team. Graduating from Sporting CP youth system, Leão made his first-team debut in 2018, winning the 2017–18 Taça da Liga, before unilaterally terminating his contract, following an incident within the club. Shortly after, he joined for Ligue 1 side Lille on a free transfer. AC Milan signed him in 2019 for a reported fee of €23 million. In his third season at the club, he helped the team win the 2021–22 Serie A, which ended the club’s 11-year league title drought. He was also voted Serie A Most Valuable Player. Leão is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various youth levels, being part of the under-17 team that won the 2016 European Championship. He made his senior international debut in 2021.
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This shirt was worn by Rafael Leão during the Serie A game between Milan and Parma which took place in Milan, “Giuseppe Meazza” Stadium, on December 13th 2020. Milan draw 2-2 and at the end of the game Leão swapped his shirt with a Parma player whom we got it from. Leão joined A.C.Milan on August 1st 2019. Leão signed a five-year contract at A.C. Milan. He made his Serie A debut 24 days later, as a 75th-minute substitute for Samu Castillejo in a 1–0 away defeat Udinese Calcio, and scored his first goal as a late consolation in a 3–1 home loss to ACF Fiorentina on 29 September. On 20 December 2020, Leão scored the fastest goal in Serie A history, scoring away against Sassuolo in the opening six seconds of the match; the match eventually ended 2–1 for Milan.
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On 5 October 2021, Leão was called up to the senior team for the first time, as a replacement for the injured Rafa Silva. Four days later, he made his international debut, replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at half-time and providing the assist for André Silva’s goal in a 3–0 friendly defeat of Qatar. Leão drew comparisons to French player Kylian Mbappé, being called the ‘Portuguese Mbappe’. Tiago Fernandes, who worked with him at the Sporting youth academy, told French newspaper L’Équipe that in his opinion the player was better than Cristiano Ronaldo at the same stage. Jesus, who later coached him in the first team, said that he reminded him of former club striker Rui Jordão. Leão’s coach at Milan, Stefano Pioli and Italian manager Fabio Capello, compared him to former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.
Did you Know?
These boots were worn by Rafael Leão during the season 2018/2019 with Lille LOSC right before he moved to A.C.Milan in January 2019. On 8 August 2018, Leão joined French club Lille on a free transfer, signing a five-year deal. Sporting CP would later dispute Lille’s deal to sign the player, deeming the transfer “unacceptable”, filling a complaint with FIFA and claiming the €45 million of his release clause. At the beginning of September 2018, Leão wanted to terminate his contract with the club, after his transfer was not approved by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), due to sanctions imposed by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG), following Lille’s financial difficulties. After being convinced by his representative to stay at Lille, the DNCG validated Lille’s pending contracts, including the contract of Leão. Leão made his competitive debut on 30 September 2018, replacing Loïc Rémy in the 78th minute, in a 3–0 victory over Olympique de Marseille. He scored his first Ligue 1 goal in only his second appearance, playing 67 minutes and helping the hosts defeat Caen in a 1–0 victory. During his spell, Leão scored eight goals in 26 competitive games, shared teams with compatriots José Fonte, Rui Fonte, Edgar Ié and Xeka and finished with his teammates as runners-up in a brilliant 2018-19 Ligue 1 season.
