Background and career
Rafael Alexandre da Conceição "Rafa" Leão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁɐfɐˈɛl ˈljɐ̃w]; born 10 June 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Portugal national team. He is known for his dribbling and speed. Graduating from Sporting CP youth system, Leão made his first-team debut in 2018, winning the 2017–18 Taça da Liga, before unilaterally terminating his contract, following an incident involving a hostile mob of ultras fans within the club's facilities. Shortly after, he joined Ligue 1 side Lille on a free transfer. After one season with the club, Italian side AC Milan signed him in August 2019, winning the 2021–22 Serie A, being named that season's Most Valuable Player. In 2026, after seven seasons with Milan, Leão joined Turkish side Galatasaray. Leão is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various youth levels, being part of the under-17 team that won the 2016 European Championship. He made his senior international debut in 2021, and was part of Portugal's squads for two FIFA World Cups (2022 and 2026) and the UEFA Euro 2024. He also won the UEFA Nations League in 2025.
Leão was born on (1999-06-10)10 June 1999 in Seixal, Portugal, a city located in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The son of an Angolan father and a São Toméan mother who met in mainland Portugal, he was raised in Amora and has three siblings. His paternal surname means "lion" in the Portuguese language.
Leão joined Sporting CP's youth system at the age of 10 after a brief spell in Amora and Foot 21. On 21 May 2017, still a junior, he made his senior debut with the reserves, coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring in a 1–1 away draw against Braga B. Courtesy of manager Jorge Jesus, Leão first appeared in the Primeira Liga with the first team on 11 February 2018, replacing Bryan Ruiz for the last 21 minutes of the 2–0 home win over Feirense. On 2 March, having taken the place of injured Seydou Doumbia late into the first half, he equalised for the visitors a few minutes after taking the pitch but in a 2–1 away loss to Porto– in the process, he became the club's youngest-ever scorer against that opposition. On 14 June 2018, Leão unilaterally terminated his contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal, citing the May 2018 attack where players and staff of Sporting were brutally attacked by a mob of about 50 club supporters on the premises of Sporting's training facility in Alcochete.
On 8 August 2018, Leão joined French club Lille on a free transfer, signing a five-year deal. Sporting CP would later dispute Lille's deal to sign the player, deeming the transfer "unacceptable", filing a complaint with FIFA and claiming the €45 million of his release clause. At the beginning of September 2018, Leão wanted to terminate his contract with the club, after his transfer was not approved by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), due to sanctions imposed by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG), following Lille's financial difficulties. After being convinced by his representative to stay at Lille, the DNCG validated Lille's pending contracts, including the contract of Leão. Leão made his competitive debut on 30 September 2018, replacing Loïc Rémy in the 78th minute, in a 3–0 home win over Marseille. He scored his first Ligue 1 goal in only his second appearance, playing 67 minutes and helping the hosts defeat Caen in a 1–0 victory. On 1 February 2019, he scored his sixth goal of the season and made an assist to Nicolas Pépé, his first for the club, in a 4–0 home win over Nice. During his spell, Leão scored a total of eight goals in 26 competitive games, being mainly used as a striker by Lille coach Christophe Galtier, and shared teams with compatriots José Fonte, Rui Fonte, Edgar Ié and Xeka, as they finished as runners-up in a brilliant 2018–19 Ligue 1 season.
On 1 August 2019, Leão signed a five-year contract at AC Milan for a fee of €35 million plus a 20% sell-on clause. He made his Serie A debut on 25 August, replacing Samu Castillejo in 75th-minute in a 1–0 away defeat to Udinese. Leão scored his first goal of the club, as a late consolation in a 1–3 home loss to Fiorentina on 29 September. On 19 March 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) condemned Leão to pay €16.5 million to Sporting CP for his unilateral breach of contract. On 7 July, Leão scored a goal against league-leaders Juventus, to help Milan to a 4–2 win, after being down by two goals. At the end of the season, he had scored six goals in 31 league matches, helping Milan to a sixth-place finish and a 10-match unbeaten streak. At the beginning of the following season, on 4 October, Leão scored a brace in a 3–0 home victory at San Siro against Spezia. On 29 October, he scored his first goal in European competitions, in a 3–0 home group stage victory in the UEFA Europa League against Sparta Prague. He scored the fastest goal in the history of Serie A and in Europe's top-five leagues, after six seconds on 20 December at Sassuolo; the match ended 2–1 for his team. On 3 January 2021, he scored the second goal against Benevento in eventual 2–0 away win, becoming the second youngest foreign player (21 years and 207 days) to score more than ten goals for Milan in Serie A, after Alexandre Pato (19 years and 19 days).
At the start of the 2021–22 season, on 29 August, Leão scored the first goal from a shot outside the box, in a 4–1 home victory against Cagliari at San Siro. On 15 September, on in his UEFA Champions League debut, he provided an assist for Ante Rebić in a 3–2 away defeat to Liverpool; and on 28 September, he scored his first goal in the competition in a 2–1 home loss against Atlético Madrid. On 9 February 2022, Leão opened the score sheet against Lazio and assisted the second goal, being directly involved in 14 goals in the season, surpassing his record during his career in Europe's the top 5 leagues. Four days later, in his 100th appearance for Milan, he scored the only goal in 1–0 win against Sampdoria, which put Milan in the top of the league table. On 25 February, he scored his eighth league goal of the season against Udinese, in an eventual 1–1 draw, becoming in the process the second player to score in each of the seven days of a week in Serie A with AC Milan, after Andriy Shevchenko. On 1 May, Leão scored the winner in a 1–0 win against Fiorentina, becoming the youngest Portuguese to score at least 10 goals in a single Serie A campaign. Seven days later, Leão's two assists to Sandro Tonali helped his team come from behind to defeat Hellas Verona 3–1 away from home, allowing his side to overtake rivals Inter at the top of the Serie A table. On 22 May, he provided a hat-trick of assists for the first time in his career as Milan beat Sassuolo 3–0 away from home to win their first Serie A title in eleven years. At the end of the season, Leão was awarded the Serie A MVP award for the 2021–22 season, finishing the campaign with 11 goals and 10 assists. Leão also established himself as one of the best dribblers (186) in Serie A and the 3rd best among European players after Vinícius Júnior (210) and Allan Saint-Maximin (205).
