‘At this stage…’ – Fabrizio Romano clears up reports linking Liverpool with Serie A attacker | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano has offered clarity on reports from Italy which had linked Liverpool with an attacker from Serie A.

There could be a reshuffle to the Reds’ forward line this summer, with Darwin Nunez reliably tipped to leave Anfield and speculation continuing over the future of Luis Diaz, although Paul Joyce has reported (via The Times) that FSG are ‘not actively looking to sell’ the Colombian.

On Tuesday, Tuttomercatoweb claimed that Merseyside chiefs had made contact regarding their purported interest in AC Milan winger Rafael Leao, although Romano has since indicated that such reports may be wide of the mark.

Romano addresses Rafael Leao to Liverpool rumours

The Italian transfer guru addressed those rumours in a Q&A newsletter for GIVEMESPORT, and he’s poured cold water on the speculation linking Liverpool with the Portugal international.

Regarding the Reds’ apparent links with the 25-year-old, Romano wrote: “I’m not aware of concrete negotiations or talks at this stage.”

(Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

Leao isn’t a player who Liverpool currently need

Although Leao has a decent track record in Serie A (55 goals in 198 matches in the division), we don’t see him as a player who Arne Slot desperately needs in his current squad.

The Portuguese attacker netted 12 times and supplied 13 assists in 3,499 minutes on the pitch in 2024/25. While those are respectable numbers, his goal tally is surpassed by Liverpool’s two left wingers Cody Gakpo (18 goals in 2,696 minutes) and Diaz (17 goals in 3,336 minutes).

As per FBref, his xG of 7.6 in the Serie A campaign was higher than the Dutchman’s 7.1 in the Premier League but well short of the Colombian’s 12. He also posted the lowest passing success rate of those three players (74.2% compared to Diaz’s 84.2%) and completed a lower proportion of take-ons than the Reds’ number 18 (45.7% to 50.8%).

Leao would be worthy of consideration if the Reds needed to bolster their left-sided attacking options, but that position is currently one of the strongest in Slot’s squad, and there are other areas which’d be in greater need of addressing (centre-back and centre-forward are perhaps the two which stand out).

We don’t expect Liverpool to push hard for the AC Milan winger this summer, but there’s still plenty of time between now and the end of August for that to change if circumstances were to be altered.