Rafael Leao has landed himself in trouble again, this time for a sexist comment about women and football posted on his private Instagram account, as flagged by MilanXtra on X.
This matters because it lands at the worst possible moment for a player whose relationship with Milan is already strained. Leao spent the early part of the summer telling anyone who would listen that he wanted to leave, across multiple interviews, and the club has since shifted from wanting to keep him to being openly willing to sell. When your own words have already put you on the exit list, the last thing you need is another self-inflicted wound off the pitch.
The post itself, written on his account @Imjus.tbeingme, read: “GIRLS, world cup is finished. Now u can stop acting like u understand football.”
He followed it up on the same account with “stop taking this Instagram too serious guys,” a walk-back that never really works once the screenshot is out. The damage was done.
The bigger picture is that Milan are actively looking at replacements and would happily cash in, but interest from the clubs Leao himself favours has been thin, which is why he may still be a Milan player when the window shuts. For a €70m-plus asset the club is trying to move, a summer of bad headlines does nothing to help the sale.
Whether this blows over or becomes another line on an already messy summer is down to Leao himself, and so far he has not made his own case any easier.