With the European transfer window quickly approaching its close, top clubs are finalizing deals to strengthen their rosters for the 2025–26 season. AC Milan is among them, still searching for attacking reinforcements to support stars like Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao. As part of that plan, the Italian side has agreed to sell a player to the Premier League.
On Thursday, Milan officially announced via their social media accounts the departure of Noah Okafor. The Swiss forward was transferred to Leeds United, one of the newly promoted teams to England’s top division. According to the BBC, the total value of the deal is £18 million — approximately $24 million.
Okafor joined the Italian side in the summer of 2023 from Red Bull Salzburg, where he had shown flashes of promising talent. However, he was never able to live up to expectations with the Rossoneri, scoring just 7 goals in 54 appearances.
For that reason, midway through last season, he was loaned out to Napoli, where he played only four matches during their title-winning Serie A campaign. After that brief stint, Noah returned to Milan this summer and even featured for 9 minutes in last Sunday’s 2-0 win over Bari in the Coppa Italia.
Despite that, Okafor was expected to play a secondary role under coach Massimiliano Allegri, given the presence of attacking players like Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao, and Santiago Gimenez ahead of him — and with the club still pursuing forwards in the market.
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Players who have left AC Milan this summer
Noah Okafor joins a long list of departures from Milan during this transfer window. That list includes key contributors from previous seasons, such as Tijjani Reijnders, who was transferred to Manchester City; Malick Thiaw to Newcastle; and Theo Hernandez to Al Hilal.
In return, the club has brought in other elite players, including Luka Modric, Pervis Estupinan, Koni De Winter, Samuele Ricci, and Ardon Jashari. And on Thursday, the club reportedly agreed to bring in a striker from Bayer Leverkusen, Victor Boniface. “€5m loan fee, €24m buy option clause not mandatory and contract until 2030,” reported journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Record-breaking Premier League transfer
Leeds United’s acquisition of Noah Okafor set an all-time spending record in English soccer. According to FootballTransfers, the 2025–26 season has now become the most expensive in Premier League history, surpassing the record set just two years ago.
English clubs have spent a total of £2.37 billion this summer (around $3.18 billion) on player transfers, surpassing the previous record of £2.36 billion set in 2023. The marquee deals contributing to this historic figure include: Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool (potentially $155 million with add-ons), Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt to Liverpool ($106 million), Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig to Manchester United ($99.5 million), and Victor Gyokeres from Sporting CP to Arsenal ($74 million).
