Napoli’s Arek Milik has reportedly rejected a 5 million euro contract from Roma, bringing down a transfer trifecta in the Serie A. The plan was, or maybe still is; Milik, along with Juventus’ Mattia De Sciglio to Roma, which would in-turn bring Roma’s Edin Dzeko to Juventus.
All three teams involved have had pretty desperate transfer markets, and all three are seemingly still in need of one or two recruits ahead of the Serie A restart this week.
Milik, 26, has been at the center of a lot of Napoli’s summer transfer talk.
He’s been strongly linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur who have striker troubles of their own but pulled out due to Napoli’s 27M euro asking price.
Now it’s another team needing a striker – Juventus – who are involved in this one. Juve have had their sights set on ex-Manchester City man Edin Dzeko for a while, but Roma need to find cover before they sell their star striker.
That’s where Milik comes into the equation. Milik would first have to go to Roma for them to then sell Dzeko to Juve, and as part of that deal, Juve would give De Sciglio to Roma.
Now though, as Milik rejects Roma’s five-year contract, worth a reported 5M euros, it’s thrown a spanner in the works.
Why Milik has rejected Roma’s offer is unknown. He’s currently earning less at Napoli and only has a year left on his deal there anyway, which means Napoli could lose him for free next summer.
With 28 Serie A goals in his last two seasons he’s proving to be a prolific name, and those seem to be few and far between in Italy right now.
Despite being Napoli’s main no. 9, Gennaro Gattuso could probably afford to lose him – he has the likes of new signings Victor Osimhen and Andrea Petagna to fall back on, and should they choose to offer Milik a new contract, it’d likely take a much higher pay than what he’s earning now.
So if Napoli could take 20 million euros and above for a player coming into the last year of his contract, still unsure if they’ll offer a new one, that’d be smart business.
Gattuso though, an infamous, not so glamorous name on and now off the pitch, might not take to Milik’s Roma rejection well.
It’s seen all of Napoli, Juventus, and Roma come unstuck in their transfer plans and it could lead to an inter-club feud with Milik and co.
Without tempting fate, Milik’s position at Napoli could be a lot less strong than it once was. Rejecting a new and improved offer would usually bode well for a player, but when it pulls up as much transfer confusion as this one then it won’t sit well.
Expect Milik to eventually move on. There’s been too much clout around his Napoli future now for him to actually have one, and expect this transfer saga to come true.
It’ll be exciting to see Milik in action nevertheless, but for who?