Milan Targets Brahim Diaz as Leao's Departure Looms
AC Milan are trying to solve two problems at once: how to replace the creativity they lack between the lines, and how to brace for life after Rafael Leao.
The club’s search for a new attacking midfielder has circled back to a familiar name. According to Corriere della Sera, Milan have set their sights on Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz, the Moroccan international who lit up San Siro during a three-year loan spell from 2020 to 2023.
Brahim, the old flame
Milan know exactly what they would be buying. Diaz was not a fleeting cameo; he was a central figure in Stefano Pioli’s project. Across 124 appearances, he scored 18 goals and delivered 15 assists, often operating in tight spaces where others hesitated. He played with risk, with edge, and with a knack for turning a dull game on its head.
He also has a Serie A title medal to prove his impact. In the 2021–22 season, as Milan surged to their first Scudetto in over a decade, Diaz’s movement and invention behind the striker became a key weapon. That campaign still resonates with the club’s hierarchy, and it explains why his name has re-emerged now.
Milan’s first-choice target in that role slipped away. Konstantinos Karetsas, the highly rated Greek prospect at Genk, chose Borussia Dortmund instead in a deal worth €33 million. The Italians moved, but not fast enough; Dortmund closed it.
So the Rossoneri have widened the net. Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri and Roma’s Matias Soule remain on the shortlist, both seen as high-upside options for the future. Yet Diaz offers something different: certainty. He knows the league, the pressure, the shirt. Milan know his temperament and his ceiling.
There is, however, a major obstacle. Diaz is tied to Real Madrid until 2027. The Spanish giants hold the power, and any negotiation will have to prise a valued squad member away from a club that rarely sells cheaply. Juventus had explored the idea before pivoting towards Bayer Leverkusen’s Karim Alaibegovic, leaving Milan with a clearer run, but not an easy one.
Leao’s seven-year chapter nears its end
If Diaz represents a look back to a successful past, Leao is the storm on the horizon.
Inside Milan, his future dominates every meeting, every corridor conversation. The Portuguese forward has made it clear he believes his seven-year cycle at the club is coming to an end. For a player who has often carried Milan’s attack on his shoulders, that is a seismic shift.
His ambition was straightforward: a move to the Premier League or La Liga, a stage to match his talent and profile. No club from either league has yet come forward with a concrete offer. The market, for now, has not bent to his wishes.
So the scenario has changed. With the top-two destinations quiet, Leao has started to look elsewhere. Turkey has entered the frame.
Galatasaray are preparing their move, sensing an opening that would have sounded improbable a few months ago. They can offer Champions League football, a crucial advantage over domestic rivals Fenerbahce and a powerful selling point for a player accustomed to European nights at San Siro.
Leao likes the idea. Istanbul, a leading role, continental football, a club that would build around him. But the numbers are heavy. He is asking for a salary in excess of €10 million per season, a figure that would place him among the highest earners in Turkish football and stretch any financial model.
Milan’s stance is equally firm. They want a permanent sale. No loans, no half-measures. If Leao goes, it must be for a fee that reflects his status and gives the club real room to rebuild.
That is the knot at the heart of Milan’s summer. To bring back Diaz or land another creator, they may need the financial muscle that only a Leao sale can provide. To keep Leao and still reshape the squad would require a different kind of market magic.
One era is creaking to a close, another is being sketched on the boardroom whiteboard. Whether San Siro’s next roar is for Brahim Diaz’s return, or for a new star funded by Leao’s departure, will define Milan’s trajectory for years, not just for one more season.
