I Partenopei have swiftly replaced star man Gonzalo Higuain, signing a Euro 2016 star.
Ordinarily, any team in world football would struggle to replace a name of Gonzalo Higuain’s calibre.
The Argentina striker was poached by Napoli’s Serie A rivals Juventus in a monster €90 million move, only strengthening the Bianconeri‘s increasingly ominous squad, and with it, their seemingly impenetrable title defence.
Higuain enjoyed a hugely successful spell in Naples, scoring 71 goals in 104 games in all competitions after joining the club in 2013, leading Juve to snap up the striker in the huge deal that netted Napoli a profit of €50 million.
Napoli and chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis acted swiftly to replace the star striker, signing Poland international Arkadiusz Milik from Ajax for £30 million a matter of days after the transfer was a announced. The new man was paraded to fans at Stadio San Paolo prior to Napoli’s preseason friendly against OCG Nice of France.
By adding Milik, Napoli have handed the Pole with arguably the most unenviable job in Serie A. But his short career span so far indicates he is up to the challenge.
So, what do we know about the centre-forward?
Benvenuto Milik #ADL
— AurelioDeLaurentiis (@ADeLaurentiis) August 1, 2016
Well, he scores goals – plenty of them – and 189 centimetre Milik’s goals to games ratio is sure to impress Napoli fans. In 52 appearances for the Dutch club in two spells – first on loan and then on a permanent basis – Milik netted 32 times.
Napoli’s new number 99 has also played for Bayer Leverkusen, FC Augsburg and Polish sides Gornik Zabrze and Rozwoj Katawice, where he turned pro aged just 16.
At the tender age of 22, Milik has represented Poland at under-17, 19, 21 and full international level since 2012, earning 31 caps for Biale Orly seniors with 11 goals to his name.
Those 31 caps include the recently concluded 2016 Euros, where Poland fell in the quarter-finals to eventual champions Portugal. Milik scored against Northern Ireland on matchday one and netted a penalty in the shootout against A Selecao.
In the early stages of qualifying, Milik found the net versus world champions Germany, sparking a run of strong personal form that saw him score four more goals as the championships approached, forming an imperious partnership with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
Milik’s signing should be treated as excellent business by Napoli. He has achieved so much in such a short timespan, still with plenty of room for development and improvement in an unforgiving, tough league.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
