Luka Modric on Rafael Leao's Future at Milan

Luka Modric has seen enough football and enough dressing rooms to know when a teammate is standing at a crossroads. With Rafael Leao, he isn’t interested in playing the wise old mentor. He just wants him on the pitch, in red and black.

The Croatian spoke openly about the Portuguese forward’s future and, in doing so, offered a rare glimpse into the mood around San Siro as the transfer window tightens its grip.

“I don’t want to give him advice,” Modric told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Rafa is mature enough to know what’s best for him. He knows how much the fans and the club love him. He’s a great player and it’s great to have him here. He just has to work hard and give his best for Milan, as he always has done.”

No drama. No pleading. Just a clear message: Leao decides, Milan waits.

The winger has been a pillar of the Rossoneri attack for seven years, the kind of player who changes the geometry of a game with a single surge down the flank. At the end of the 2025-26 season, though, he made it clear he was tempted by something new, a different league, a different stage. Those words have hovered over Milan’s summer like a storm cloud.

Modric, now the veteran presence in a squad trying to reinvent itself, didn’t shy away from the other side of the story: Leao is not coming off his finest year.

“Maybe he’s not coming off the best season, he had a couple of injuries and wasn’t feeling at his best physically,” Modric admitted. The numbers backed that up across the campaign, the rhythm broken by those physical setbacks that never quite let him hit full stride.

But Modric’s verdict on the player himself never wavered.

“He’s still a great footballer. In my opinion, if he were to stay, it would be fantastic for all of us because he’s one of the best in the world when he’s at his peak.”

That “if” hangs heavy. Milan are heading into a season without Champions League football, stripped of the financial cushion and the sporting spotlight that usually help keep stars anchored. For Modric, the idea of lining up with a fully fit, fully focused Leao in that context is more than just appealing. It’s a reason to push harder.

The conversation around Leao hasn’t been left to the dressing room. Head coach Ruben Amorim has had to confront the same questions throughout pre-season, particularly on the club’s tour in Australia, where every training session and every smile gets dissected for clues.

“All the players are working really well: both those who started from day one and those who arrived later,” Amorim said. “Rafa is lucky to be at a club like Milan, so he should be happy. I feel he’s happy and motivated.”

That last line matters. Happy and motivated. It cuts against the narrative that Leao has already mentally checked out, that his declaration of wanting a new challenge at the end of last season was the first step toward the exit.

Inside the camp, the tone has shifted. The rumours continue to swirl outside, but on the training pitches and in the hotel meeting rooms, the message is that Leao is still plugged into the Rossoneri project.

Modric, for his part, didn’t pretend the modern game is anything other than a business. Contracts, offers, clauses – they all loom large. But when he stripped it back to football alone, there was no ambiguity.

“As I said, he and the club will decide what the best solution will be, but as a footballer, of course I want Rafa in my team.”

That’s the crux of it. Between the economics of the market and the ambitions of a player entering his prime, Milan must decide whether they build the next phase around Leao or cash in on a forward who once again has Europe’s elite circling.

The veteran in midfield has made his stance clear. Now the question is whether the club – and Leao himself – are willing to match that conviction.