6. Rafael Leao – €25 million (AC Milan)
This summer, AC Milan concluded the signing of promising Portuguese and Lille centre-forward Rafael Leao for a sum of €25 million. The deal was first though to be worth around €35 million. Lille signed Leao for free in the summer of 2018. He was far from an established first-team regular at Sporting before he came to France. He had appeared in 18 games for the Sporting B side in all competitions, scoring 12 times.
He then had a breakout season with Lille where he scored eight times and assisted thrice to pull Les Dogues to an impressive second place finish in the Ligue 1. The Portuguese will slip into a similar role at AC Milan where the core of his responsibility will be to open up space for Krzystof Piatek, provide an option in the box and put goals in the back of the net. He is a very exciting prospect at just 20 and fits into a role that has been perfectly molded for him.
5. Leonardo Spinazzola – €29.5 million (Roma)
Leonardo Spinazzola joined Roma from Juventus for €29.5 million, signing a four-year contract with the club, while Luca Pellegrini moved in the opposite direction.
The 26-year-old signed contract in Rome and is expected to act as Aleksandar Kolarov’s successor at left-back, although he can also offer cover for the wingers in their attack. In August, however, the former Atalanta and Juventus man was diagnosed with a left femoral bicep problem following a training session. He is yet to feature for the Roman side.
