Speculation of Barcelona’s interest in Portuguese international were fueled by Jorge Mendes – report | OneFootball

Not too long ago, Rafael Leao was a hot topic at Barcelona, who were reportedly keen on bringing in the Portuguese international from AC Milan.

Leao was even identified as the ideal long-term replacement for the ageing Robert Lewandowski.

Jorge Mendes: The mastermind behind Leao links?

However, a new report from Matteo Moretto suggests that much of the speculation linking the winger to the Blaugrana was largely fueled by super-agent Jorge Mendes rather than any genuine movement from the Catalan club.

Mendes, who had a temporary mandate to facilitate a transfer for Leao following his contract renewal with Milan, was in regular contact with Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

This contact reportedly led to a flurry of rumours regarding a potential move to the La Liga giants.

Is Rafael Leao a genuine option for Barcelona? (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

However, despite the agent’s efforts to generate interest, no real progress was ever made in negotiations between the two clubs.

Now, with the expiration of Mendes’ mandate, the situation has changed significantly. The Portuguese winger is no longer associated with the influential agent, and their professional relationship has completely dissolved.

As a result, any previous links between Leao and Barcelona that were primarily driven by Mendes’ involvement have now fizzled out.

With Barcelona still facing financial constraints and Leao settled in Milan, any immediate move to Spain seems highly unlikely, at least for the time being.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the situation changes in the coming summer, especially if Barcelona manage to conjure up finances to sign such a top player.