Rafael Leao has criticised Antonio Cassano, labelling him a “clown” following Cassano’s remarks suggesting that Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden surpass Leao in skill.
Despite generating significant transfer speculation, Leao has solidified his importance to AC Milan, leading to a contract extension until 2028.
While overshadowed by teammate Christian Pulisic’s stellar performances this season, Leao has still managed to contribute six goals and nine assists in 27 Serie A matches.
Despite his recent goal in a 3-0 win over Lecce, Cassano remains unimpressed with Leao’s performances.
Ex-Italy international Cassano told Domenica Sportiva: “Leao thinks he is a genius and some even agree with him. I just consider him a good player and I have not changed my mind on that. For five-and-a-half months, he didn’t score in a poor league like Serie A. Years ago, he would’ve struggled to play in the sixth or seventh team in Serie A.”
He added: “If I go and see Rashford as a winger last year, he scored more than 25 goals and played in a wonderful championship. [Khvicha] Kvaratskhelia arrives and has a wonderful championship. Foden is a year younger and this year he has already scored 21 goals and 10 assists; they are top players.
In Italy, the championship is not good and the problem is that he thinks he is a phenomenon and there is a lot of people who believe in it. He’s a good player and has great physical strength, stop. So Kaka, Rui Costa and Vinicius? What are we talking about? We’re talking about a normal player who has physical strength.”
Leao has become aware of Cassano’s comments, but is paying little attention to them. Rather than allow the opinion of others to get him down, or become embroiled in a war of words, the Portuguese forward has merely posted a series of clown emojis alongside the video of Cassano in rant mode.