New rumors about the future of Rafael Leao. According to what the newspaper reports Oh Jogo, the Al-Hilal – the Saudi club from Riyadh which has Neymar and Milinkovic-Savic in its squad (and is coached by Jorge Jesus, compatriot of the AC Milan number 10 and already his coach in Lisbon) – would have put the striker born in 1999 in their sights.
There are obviously many obstacles to reaching the footballer. First we need to understand whether there is a desire on his part to leave European football (the highest possible level) to land in Saudi Arabia. Then there would be the requests of Milanup to the maximum of 175 million euros of the release clause which – according to what is reported from Portugal – Al-Hilal would not be willing to pay for now.
But the Riyadh club would still be considering an equally substantial offer, certainly in triple digits, to try to complete an operation which, according to rumours, would be carried out personally by Leao’s father. For whom, if the situation progressed, a pharaonic salary would be ready.
The intermediary would be involved in the operation Mario Rui, who has ties to the Saudi royal family and has already indicated his availability to work on the deal. It therefore remains to be understood what Leao thinks, still fresh from his renewal with Milan and, above all, eager to progress and establish himself at high levels in Europe.
Leao capital gain Milan – The hypotheses with 100 million or the clause
But on an economic level, how much could the capital gain for Milan amount to? What impact would this transaction have on the budget? To answer this question we can make two hypotheses, one based on an offer from 100 million euros and one if the termination clause is paid by 175 million.
Starting from the official budget data, the historical cost of Leao is equal to over 49.5 million euros. The latest increase of 20 million in this item is linked to the payment of the fine for the issue which also involved Sporting Lisbon and Lille. As of 30 June 2023 – the latest official data available – Leao’s net value was equal to Approximately 28 million euros.
Considering the remaining years of the contract, the value will have dropped to 22.4 million euros to 30 June 2024. This is the starting point for calculating any capital gain, which in the event of a sale for 100 million euros would amount to to 77.6 millionwhile in case of payment of the clause it would reach the monstrous figure of 152.6 million euros.
Leao capital gain Milan – The overall impact on the balance sheet
To calculate the overall impact on Milan’s accounts in 2024/25, the club’s savings on depreciation and salary should then be added to these figures, for a total of 12.2 million euros overall. If so, the total impact of a 100 million offer would be positive for 89.8 million euroswhile in case of payment of the clause we would arrive at 164.8 million euros.
