Will Milan Sell Piatek To Tottenham?
AC Milan's Krzysztof Piatek could be playing Premier League football very soon. There are growing reports that Tottenham Hotspur is considering signing the Polish forward as a replacement for the club's star striker Harry Kane.
The success of this potential deal rests on whether Milan would be willing to lower their £30 million asking price for Piatek. Losing the 24-year old will be a blow for Milan, but if you take a look into UK betting sites list to bet on your favourite Italian team, you can notice that the club still has decent odds of getting to a top-six finish this season.
The transfer looks all the more likely since Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his high-profile return to the San Siro. So will Piatek prefer playing second fiddle to Ibrahimovic, or hope to rejuvenate Spurs in the absence of Kane?
How Close Is The Piatek Deal To Being Signed?
With Harry Kane sidelined until April as a result of a hamstring injury sustained against Southampton, Spurs are desperate to add a forward to their line-up. Tottenham's bosses have already met with the AC Milan hierarchy, but are reportedly unwilling to pay the £30 million valuations on Piatek.
It seems reasonably unlikely that Milan will lower their price by much as the Italian club paid £34 million to sign the striker from Genoa last winter. However, Tottenham could try and arrange a loan deal for Piatek to the one that looks like it's bringing Benfica's Gedson Fernandes to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Other Premier League clubs like West Ham United, Newcastle United and Aston Villa got rumoured to be willing to sign Piatek. Plus there's also interest from Serie A teams like Fiorentina and Roma which suggests that Tottenham will have to finalise the deal soon.
Why Piatek Could Work Wonders At Tottenham
Spurs are a long way off looking like they could repeat their Champions League final place of last season. The London club has struggled with inconsistency throughout their 2019/20 campaign, and even the addition of legendary manager Jose Mourinho has failed to ignite Tottenham's title challenge.
Much of this got put down to a sense of stagnancy in the Tottenham squad. While it looks likely that Christian Eriksen might join Inter, ongoing injuries and a feeling of complacency will mean that Mourinho will have to encourage owner Daniel Levy to get his chequebook out this winter.
Although Piatek has fallen out of favour at Milan, there is little doubting his goal scoring prowess. The Polish star managed to score 19 goals in 21 games for Genoa, and he has even named Tottenham's Harry Kane as being a role model for his style of play.
It would be easy to see how Piatek could link up alongside Spurs' creative forwards like Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min. However, with Piatek's poor run of form with Milan, many people are speculating that Tottenham might sign Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint Germain as a more crowd-pleasing option.
Can Milan Afford To Sell Piatek?
With all of the fanfare that surrounded the arrival of Ibrahimovic, it could be easy to forget the fact that Milan is still in big trouble. The club has managed to drag their way to a mid-table position in Serie A, but with that big Milan derby just a couple of weeks away, Stefano Pioli will need all of the quality players at his disposal.
Ibrahimovic's return in the 2-0 win over Cagliari gave the side the goals and the points that have been so hard to come by. But with only 18 goals in 19 Serie A matches, it's clear that Milan has to prioritise their toothless attack.
Rather than relying on short-term fixes like Ibrahimovic, more needs to get done to invest in the future of this team. If Milan is willing to let a promising young star like Piatek go at a cut-price, then it will merely show a lack of ambition from one of Italy's biggest football clubs.