Aston Villa are in talks over a deal to sign Rafael Leao from AC Milan.The Portugal international winger, who is also the subject of interest from Turkish club Galatasaray, would help to further boost Villa’s attacking ranks after the club agreed a deal worth a total package of £65million to sign striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea earlier on Wednesday.Villa believe Leao’s preference is for a move to Villa Park, and the club would be keen to secure the forward on a loan deal with an obligation to buy.Despite the proposed arrival of Jackson, Villa want further attacking reinforcements after finalising the departure of Ollie Watkins to Al Hilal in a £50m transfer.The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Villa have made an indicative offer for Leao, whose Milan contract runs until 2028, having last signed fresh terms in 2023.The 27-year-old joined Milan from Lille in 2019 and has made 291 appearances for the club, providing 80 goals and 61 assists and winning the 2021-22 Serie A title.Leao featured 31 times in all competitions for Milan during the 2025-26 campaign, providing 10 goals and three assists.The forward was part of the Portugal squad that reached the last-16 of the World Cup, before being eliminated by Spain. He made five appearances at the tournament, four of which came from the bench, scoring once and adding one assist.Villa have undergone a summer of significant change with Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne all departing Unai Emery’s squad, while the futures of Emiliano Martinez is also uncertain and Watkins is set to depart.Neither featured in Sunday’s opening-day four-goal loss at Brighton & Hove Albion, with Watkins later apologising to his team-mates for missing the game.The club have added six players to Emery’s first-team squad, with goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, left-back Matteo Ruggeri and midfielders Joao Gomes and Johan Manzambi all joining on permanent deals, with right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and forward Alejandro Garnacho also arriving on loans.What sort of player is Leao?Analysis from Nick MillerRafael Leao is the sort of player it’s possible to watch for 10 years and perhaps never reach a firm conclusion on.A lot of the time, he looks like an elite player. Pace, skill, a vicious shot, the ability to make opposition defenders look like fools. He also has some pretty strong numbers, averaging just under 20 goals and assists a season since 2021, and was named Serie A player of the season when Milan won the Scudetto in 2021-22.And yet, you can also go for whole games without really noticing he’s on the pitch, an infuriating anonymity for someone with his gifts.But hey, what do we know: his team-mates paint a much more flattering picture. “This is the Rafa that we need,” Luka Modric said after he scored twice in a win over Napoli earlier this season. “He is an amazing talent, an amazing player. For me, (he is) one of the best players in the world and he can improve.”Fikayo Tomori chose Leao as the player who surprised him most after the England defender moved to Italy. “It was almost like he didn’t know how good he was,” Tomori told The Athletic in March, “because everything came so naturally to him. He came out of the womb and this is just how he knew to play football. He just didn’t know how to use what he had.”Aug 26, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms