Bayern Munich Reignite Interest in Rafael Leão After Missing Out on Top Targets

Bayern Munich’s search for a new winger is getting increasingly complicated—and now it looks like they’ve circled back to Rafael Leão of AC Milan. With their primary targets, Nico Williams and Bradley Barcola, slipping out of reach, the Bundesliga giants are reportedly ready to reopen talks with the Portuguese star.

Initially, Bayern had hoped to land either Barcola or Williams to fill the void that will be left by Leroy Sané. But PSG have no intention of selling Barcola, and Williams appears to be heading to Barcelona. That has prompted Bayern to revisit their interest in Leão, who had already been on their radar earlier in the summer. 

According to Sport Bild, there was a face-to-face meeting between Bayern and Leão’s representatives in Munich on May 30, and club director Max Eberl even spoke to the player over the phone to lay out the club’s plans. Things went quiet for a while, but now the Bavarians are reportedly planning to resume negotiations. There are some concerns within the club about Leão’s defensive work rate, but there’s optimism that new manager Vincent Kompany can help improve that side of his game. 

Fabrizio Romano echoed these reports, tweeting, “Bayern have discussed again Rafael Leão internally as winger option this week. No proposal or negotiations advancing yet. Bayern will wait for Nico Williams to see if the deal gets done with Barcelona… and then will re-assess options, including Leão, Barcola and more.” 

Meanwhile, things are getting shaky at AC Milan. The club is in the middle of a major summer overhaul. Tijjani Reijnders and Yunus Musah have already left, moving to Manchester City and Napoli respectively. Theo Hernandez is being chased by clubs in Saudi Arabia, and Mike Maignan has drawn serious interest from Chelsea. And now, it looks like Leão might be the next big name to walk out of San Siro.  He certainly won’t be short of options. Arsenal, Chelsea, and several Saudi clubs are reportedly lining up offers, ready to throw serious money to bring him in. If Bayern are serious about Leão, they’ll need to act fast and decisively—because the competition is fierce and the price tag won’t be cheap. 

To make matters more frantic, Bayern have also been linked with other Premier League names like Eberechi Eze, Kaoru Mitoma, and Cody Gakpo, but none of those would be easy—or cheap—deals to pull off either. For now, though, the race for Leão is wide open. But Bayern will need to get their act together quickly if they want to land one of Europe’s most exciting attacking talents. 

Also Read: Barcelona Close to Signing Nico Williams After Reaching Verbal Agreement