Arkadiusz Milik has been at the center of Napoli’s transfer talk for the past couple of weeks. But with his publicized moved to Roma seemingly breaking down, is he about to make the step into English football?
For so long the Premier League has been deemed the overseas players’ dream. But in past seasons we’re seeing more and more players fleeing from the English top-flight, and a lot of them joining clubs in Italy.
Milik though could be about to ditch the Serie A. Despite his 11 league goals last season he’s been deemed surplus to requirements by the ever-stern Gennaro Gattuso and club president Aurelio De Laurentiis, who is keen to cash in on some of the club’s most prized assets in this window.
It seemed nailed on that Milik would be joining Roma in a deal which would in-turn see Edin Dzeko join Juventus. But after Milik rejected the offer from Roma, Dzeko’s deal has since fallen through – reports claim that he’s happy to stay in Rome.
Also seemingly happy to stay at his club is Milik, but Napoli won’t allow it. Milik is out of contract next season and therefore able to discuss terms with other clubs from January. Napoli are desperate to sell him in this window, and that hope has just been given a new lease of life.
Both Fulham and Newcastle United have recently been linked with the striker. Spurs were keen on the 26-year-old last month but after their loan signing of Gareth Bale, it seems unlikely that José Mourinho will have the wage budget for Milik as well.
As for Fulham and Newcastle, these could be two very interesting options for Milik.
Fulham won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs for a second time in three years this summer. Under Scott Parker, they defied the odds against Brentford and fans will tell you that they couldn’t have done it without a certain Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Serb is prolific, but Fulham have been over-reliant on him. They’re in the market for a striker and Milik fits the bill, but reports claim that they’ll only move if Napoli budge from their 25M euro valuation.
Newcastle on the other hand have recruited well this summer. Callum Wilson looks to be a strong signing in place of the under-performing Joelinton, and Steve Bruce could well do with another name up top.
Chairman Mike Ashley might not be inclined to spend much more after the summer they’ve already had though, and so a deal for Milik looks unlikely unless they can barter the price.
All in all, it seems like Milik’s most likely destination might be Fulham. But even that’s a stretch. The club has a lot of names on the wage list and after their failed spending spree ahead of the 2018-19 season, their budget might still be recovering.
Either way, Napoli need to get rid of Milik this summer, or engineer a new contact. Both the club and player are in a difficult position, and it’ll be interesting to see where, or even if he’s playing next month.