The 24-year-old’s future has been the subject of some speculation with Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea rumoured to be among suitors willing to match the €175m (£150m/$£189m) release clause this summer. But in a wide-ranging interview, Furlani was buoyant about the prospects of keeping hold of his flying winger.

“Rafa has a release clause of €175 million,” Furlani told Gazzetta dello Sport. “But aside of that, he wants to stay in Milan. He’s very comfortable here, he should be the one asking us to leave but he doesn’t want to. Long live Leao at Milan.”

Leao has become a key man in Milan since his arrival from Lille in 2019 and it comes as no surprise that some of Europe’s big spenders are tempted to match his release clause. But with four years still left to run on his current contract, Furlani very much sees Leao as the man to build around as the Rossoneri look to add a centre-forward to replace the MLS-bound veteran Olivier Giroud.

Leao returns from international duty as Milan travel to Florence to face Fiorentina on Saturday night in Serie A. They have serious work to do if they want to catch runaway leaders and city rivals Inter at the top.