According to Sky Sport, Aston Villa's new proposal is worth €42m plus €3m in bonuses — only marginally below the figure the Turkish club have put on the table for the Portugal international. Beyond the fee, the two sides are also competing on personal terms: Villa have offered Leão a contract worth €7m net per season, well short of the €10m fixed salary plus €2m in bonuses Galatasaray have proposed to the player.
The gap in personal terms leaves Galatasaray still favourites to complete the signing, even with Villa's improved bid narrowing the difference in transfer fee.
AC Milan have handed the process over to agent Jorge Mendes to manage the various offers, with the priority being whichever destination suits Leão's career best at this stage, and the Portuguese has continued to work away from the first-team group amid the uncertainty.
Milan's own valuation of the 27-year-old sits close to €50m, and the club have so far declined to confirm either bid publicly while talks continue behind the scenes. Galatasaray's intermediary George Gardi has already held direct talks with Milan's hierarchy in Milan this week in an attempt to bridge the remaining gap, with the Turkish club keen to include easily achievable bonuses tied to Champions League qualification and progress in order to get closer to Milan's asking price without increasing the guaranteed fixed fee.
Tottenham had also been credited with interest earlier in the process but are understood to have fallen away as the contest narrowed to a two-club race between Villa and Galatasaray.
Leão has entered the final years of a deal that runs to 2028, and Milan are keen to resolve his situation before the market closes regardless of which club ultimately wins the race, having already signalled to all parties that the winger is available this summer.