Rafael Leao has cooled his talk of leaving Milan, telling the Brazilian podcast PodPah that he is "still under contract" and committed while he wears the shirt, comments relayed by @ACMilan_Brasil on X.
This matters because Leao spent chunks of the summer sounding like a player with one foot out the door, and Milan need to know which version of him they're building around. He is the most valuable asset on the books, a €175m release clause hanging over him, and Massimiliano Allegri's plans for the season lean heavily on getting the best out of a forward who ran hot and cold last term. A player openly agitating for a move is a problem. A player suddenly professing loyalty after the market failed to produce a suitor is a different kind of problem.
Here is what he actually said:
"It's a club that gave me so much, that welcomed me and gave me everything. We aspire… aspire to new things. I'm still under contract with Milan, and as long as I'm wearing the club's shirt, I'll give my all."
The obvious question is what changed. Earlier in the window Leao made little effort to hide that he wanted out, and a section of the fanbase had grown tired of the inconsistency by the end of the campaign. No elite club came in with the kind of offer that would have moved Milan on that clause, and the tone has softened accordingly. Whether that's genuine recommitment or the sound of a player recalibrating after the phone didn't ring, the outcome for Milan is the same: he stays, for now.
The mess is largely of his own making, and it leaves Allegri managing a forward whose head has been elsewhere. Where it goes next depends on whether the goals return, and whether a serious bid ever does.