GdS: Just like at Lille – how Leao is rising to Allegri’s centre-forward challenge

Rafael Leao may still have the No.10 on his back, but he is slowly evolving into the No.9 role that Massimiliano Allegri foresaw for him.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning, Allegri has always believed that Leao possesses the physique to play as a centre-forward, being 1.88m tall and 81kg in weight. Yet, he has been admired and applauded him for his runs as a winger starting on the left.

There are rare exceptions, such as in Milan-Spezia match in October 2020, when Stefano Pioli used him as a lone striker after replacing Lorenzo Colombo. Result? From 0-0 to 3-0, with a brace from Rafa. The experiment, however, did not go much further, until Max came along.

Back to his roots

After joining Lille, Leao was almost always deployed as a centre-forward, as Allegri himself noted after Milan-Lazio on Saturday. The French club’s then-coach Christophe Galtier used him as the apex of a very attacking formation, deploying Nicolas Pepe, Jonathan Ikoné and Jonathan Bamba behind him.

A very young Leao finished with eight goals in 24 league games. This haul attracted the attention of several European teams, including Inter who considered him as an alternative to Lukaku should the Manchester United deal fall through. That didn’t happen, and Milan ultimately benefitted.

Leao was consistently deployed on the left by Pioli, earning the league MVP award in 2021-22 after the Scudetto win. He also played as a winger last season, first under Fonseca and then Conceiçao. Allegri took him back to his roots, pairing him with Pulisic in a 3-5-2 from the first summer friendly.

A new but old role

Leao has settled into his position well, although with the American’s injury he’s had to partner Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku, occasionally adapting to operating as a second striker.

His stats, however, reflect the change in position: fewer crosses (0.44 per game versus 1.62 last season), chances created (0.67 versus 1.71) and successful dribbles (0.56 versus 1.74), but more shots on target (1.22 versus 0.85), assists (2.22 versus 0.85) and more goals (one every 125 minutes vs. 291).

Of course, the two penalties he took and converted against Fiorentina and Parma also factor into this last statistic, but so does Rafa’s change in mentality. He’s more aggressive in the box (see his goal against Lazio on Saturday night), but also more mature on and off the pitch.

Amid all this, his connection with his teammates in his new role is also growing. After Saturday’s win, he revealed: “The goal-scoring move? We often practice it in training with Tomori. It worked beautifully, and maybe Milan don’t have to turn to the mercato for their number nine.