Rafa Leao’s move from Milan to Galatasaray was meant to open a new chapter, with Istanbul offering both a major stage and a different kind of pressure. One month after a €38 million transfer, with a further €5 million in bonuses including €3 million considered readily achievable, the Portuguese forward is still looking for his first decisive moment.
Galatasaray wanted him strongly, their supporters embraced him immediately, and the club’s summer mood changed around his arrival. Yet the first four appearances have also underlined the question that followed Leao through his final Milan seasons: how consistently can he turn talent into influence?
Quick facts
- Milan sold Leao to Galatasaray for €38 million plus up to €5 million in bonuses.
- He has played four matches, three in the league and one in the Champions League, totalling 230 minutes.
- Leao has yet to register either a goal or an assist for his new club.
- He has started two of those four matches, operating on the left in Okan Buruk’s 4-2-3-1.
- Galatasaray sold 50,000 shirts carrying his new No. 27 in his first three days in Istanbul.
His league debut came in the 3-2 win over Basaksehir, although it also brought a yellow card for an unnecessary foul. There have been flashes of the dribbler Milan knew well, but the end product has not arrived.
The difficult evening came away to Trabzonspor, where Galatasaray were beaten 4-0 by a side led by Momo Salah’s hat-trick. Leao lost possession 21 times, completed five of nine attempted dribbles, failed to test the goalkeeper and struggled with his passing.
The performance drew sharp criticism online, particularly after an arrival that had been greeted with extraordinary warmth. Around 500 supporters met him at Istanbul airport 20 days earlier, with chants and applause reserved for a player expected to become one of the club’s summer symbols.
Buruk nevertheless defended his new winger after the defeat. The coach said Leao’s signing had helped restore smiles among supporters, adding that a negative atmosphere around the club had been its biggest problem in recent weeks.
The relationship with the stands has not broken. At Leao’s first home match against Kocaelispor, supporters in the Ali Sami Yen curve displayed a banner portraying him with a surfboard and the words “Time to surf”. Leao reposted the image on Instagram.
Surfing has become his preferred image for dealing with setbacks. He has described the sport as a lesson in recovery: surfers can choose the wrong wave, but they return to the board, learn from the mistake and seek another solution.
Off the pitch, he has maintained his familiar public rhythm, sharing smiling photographs and continuing with music. In Istanbul, he has also reunited with close friend Osimhen; the pair are neighbours in the Kemer Country residential area.
The No. 27 is a fresh start for a player who previously wore 17 and 10 at Milan, 14 and 7 at Lille, and 9 and 93 at Sporting. His arrival generated immediate commercial force, but the football remains at an earlier stage.
Leao has also had limited involvement with Portugal, playing less than half an hour across two Nations League matches. After the win over Norway, he said he viewed the Turkish championship as a competitive league with prominent players, while stressing how much Galatasaray had wanted him.
At 27, the broader issue is no longer simply adaptation to a new country or a new shirt number. The version of Leao who helped Milan win the Scudetto feels more distant than it once did, and his delayed summer search for a club ended with Turkey rather than one of Europe’s larger leagues.
There is still room for a different turn. Fabio Grosso was a C2 attacking midfielder still searching for his role until the age of 24, before Serse Cosmi reshaped his path at Perugia. Leao’s own route is not fixed either, but Galatasaray will need the player on the pitch to match the welcome that met him in Istanbul.
At the end of August, Leao said he would teach Turkey how to surf. Kilyos, on the Black Sea coast outside Istanbul, may be the right place for the metaphor. For Galatasaray, however, the important lesson must now arrive on Sunday afternoons.
