Antonio Conte publicly raves about Rafael Leao, after rumours Tottenham want to sign him

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has been raving about Rafael Leao after last night’s Champions League tie.

Conte was speaking, via Football London, after his side’s 1-0 defeat at the San Siro yesterday.

Tottenham went behind in the opening few minutes thanks to a Brahim Diaz goal.

Theo Hernandez rose above Cristian Romero to set up the chance, before Diaz scored at the second attempt.

It was a poor goal to concede for Antonio Conte’s side, and could have been the start of a capitulation.

However, Tottenham slowly grew into the game, but failed to create any clear-cut chances.

Malick Thiaw should have doubled Milan’s lead in the second-half, but Tottenham won’t be too upset returning home with just a one goal deficit to overcome.

AC Milan’s most impressive player on the night was undoubtedly Rafeal Leao.

The Portuguese winger looked incredibly comfortable on the ball, and had the better of Emerson Royal.

Conte admitted Tottenham struggled to stop Leao on the counter-attack, which is no surprise given his incredible pace.

If Spurs act on their interest, the 23-year-old could be playing in north London next season.

Tottenham boss Conte raves about Leao

Speaking after the match, Conte was quick to praise several Milan stars after the final whistle.

“When you play against Milan you have to pay attention when you attack to prevent the counter-attack because they have players like Leao and Theo Hernandez and also a point of reference like Giroud,” Conte said.

“If they have space they can kill you.

“They have very good players, like Leao, Theo Hernandez and Giroud, when you make a pass, you hand a pass to Giroud, Giroud makes possession and he allows the team to attack.”

Leao has a £105m release clause, although he could leave the club for much less than that this summer.

Discussions over a contract extension have been made public, as the winger only has 18 months left on his current deal.

Tottenham have been interested in Leao for some time, and he would be the perfect player in a Conte system.

Son Heung-min has been very poor this season, and Leao right now would be an immediate upgrade.

There’s likely to be huge interest in the Portuguese if he is available this summer.

It would be a real coup if Tottenham could win the race for his signature.