Rafael Leão, born 10 June 1999 (age 26), is a Portugal international and left-sided forward whose senior career is now overwhelmingly associated with AC Milan. There is little point pretending otherwise: Milan is the club that has given his career its scale, with 227 league appearances and 63 league goals across eight seasons.
His best league return came in 2022-23, when he scored 15 times in 35 appearances for Milan. That remains the clearest marker of his attacking ceiling, though he has continued to be more than a name from a previous cycle.
In 2025-26 he is still a regular part of the side, with 29 Serie A appearances and nine goals, plus two Coppa Italia appearances and one goal. Across all competitions for Milan this season, he has made 31 appearances and scored 10 times. He has also played three times for Portugal in European World Cup qualifying.
His current market value is around £42.5m, according to Transfermarkt. Leão’s career, at this stage, is a straightforward one to read: a Portugal international whose main body of work has been built at AC Milan, where he remains relevant in the first team.
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