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Leao, a cornerstone of AC Milan in both the good times and the bad: he needs to be replaced, and the attacking options are limited.

Leao is immensely talented but still incomplete: among AC Milan supporters, the feeling on this issue is one of regret over what might have been, but never came to pass.

Rafael Leao is close to leaving AC Milan. For a long time, he has split opinion, blessed with enormous talent but ultimately not fully delivering on it. Among the Rossoneri faithful, the mood now appears to be one of disappointment for what could have been and never was. The Portuguese forward hit his peak in the season of the Serie A title, then followed that with high-level displays in the Champions League, before an unmistakable decline gradually took hold and has continued up to now.

Despite all his vast potential, his attitude, his character and a lack of hunger prevented him from expressing it completely in a Rossoneri shirt. It is only right that the two sides now go their separate ways, because his chapter at Milanello is clearly finished, as he himself said on several occasions during the summer.

Even so, Milan supporters, and above all the Rossoneri hierarchy, should not make the mistake of downplaying his exit. The club’s management have a responsibility to replace him properly, because even if Leao is now regarded as an ordinary player, he was never an ordinary player for AC Milan.

He has recorded 80 goals and 65 assists in 291 appearances: 145 goal contributions in a Rossoneri shirt. He has been a pillar, for better and for worse. He has received plenty of criticism, and much of it was deserved. But over the years he has also been hugely decisive. Without him, Milan will lose a significant number of goals and assists. When the season ends, the numbers will have to balance out, or rather, they will need to be better than last year.

That is why Leao ought to be replaced by a top-level player. If matters remain as they are, as has been suggested in recent hours, the club will be committing a serious error.

Goncalo Ramos has been brought in, and he will add goals. But nobody can say today whether Cisse will back up the encouraging signs he showed in his first appearance. Nor is it certain whether Pulisic will go back to being a decisive player.

Camarda has just one Serie A goal. On that point, Amorim made it clear that the centre-forward choices in the attacking unit will stay as they are. I think they are very light in that department: Ramos and Camarda alone are not enough for a 50-match season. That is why, in these circumstances, Gimenez staying on, with all the risks that comes with, may not be bad news.