The Rafael Leão illusion has left Milan

There was a footballer wearing a red-and-black shirt on the left wing who was accelerating, lurching and dribbling as if he were the embodiment of the wind. That player’s name is Rafael Leão, and he gave the illusion of being elusive, that almost anything was possible for him, that he could pull off anything if only he wanted to. Illusions are captivating because they prompt the viewer to truly believe in them and regard them as real. The problem is that they aren’t.

And so it comes to an end. Rafael Leão is leaving Milan and will go on to play in Turkey, for Galatasaray.

Rafael Leão played with illusions. Perhaps he truly believed he was untouchable; certainly, he believed that almost anything was possible for him. If you go up to the stands at San Siro and look closely at the pitch, you can see where this illusion faded: the very place that was his home for seven seasons, that rectangle of the pitch that ends at the left touchline.

Rafael Leão arrived in Milan, at AC Milan, on 1 August 2019 without much fanfare, but with the eyes of those keen to see what a player described as ‘as fast as the wind’ and capable of entertaining with his feet had to offer. Few, however, truly trusted that Portuguese player, who wasn’t even a first-team regular for his country’s Under-21s and who, whilst playing as a striker for Lille, spent little time in the box and scored even fewer goals.

At Milan, Rafael Leão started out as a striker, a disjointed figure during that disjointed spell of football that was Marco Giampaolo’s brief tenure on the Rossoneri bench. The Portuguese player’s time at Milan seemed like a misfit story, but it turned into a great one – at least on the surface.

Stefano Pioli’s arrival as manager of the Rossoneri saw Rafael Leão gradually move out to the wing, and it was there that the Portuguese player began to weave his spell. A spell that was at times convincing, capable of instilling new confidence in the Milan fans, a whirlwind of conviction that everything was within their grasp. That illusion turned into joy in the season Milan celebrated a Scudetto that had seemed almost impossible to most. On that wing, Rafael Leão was a marvel of speed and elegance, a force of nature perfectly complemented by that other illusion which turned into a convincing reality: Theo Hernández.

It lasted long enough for all this to be mistaken for certainty. Then the Milan fans discovered that the magnificent edifice they had thought was made of concrete was in fact made of snow. That Rafael Leão himself was nothing more than snow destined to melt in the sun. And the sun came out.

Rafael Leão’s time at Milan spanned seven seasons; he filled the minds of Rossoneri fans with thrilling memories, yet left a sense of something unfinished, as if a story that should have been perfect had turned out wrong. Supporters are forgiving of many things, but they almost never forgive a lack of willingness to give one’s all for the shirt. And whilst one could ask anything of Rafael Leão, one could not ask him to be the sort of player capable of taking those around him by the hand and spurring them on to give their all for the shirt.

Rafael Leão is leaving even though the league season has just begun and August isn’t even over yet. He is leaving amidst a mix – felt by others, of course – of melancholy for what has been, discontent over what could have been but wasn’t, and the realisation that there will be no more Godot to wait for.