Should West Ham sign Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik in January?

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

West Ham’s hunt for a new striker in the January transfer window may finally be nearing its conclusion, with the club reportedly interested in signing Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik. 

According to Calico Napoli 24, West Ham offered around £6.2 million for the Polish striker in a bid to sign the forward this month. 

Milik has been frozen out of Gennaro Gattuso’s squad after refusing to sign a new contract and due to his current deal expiring at the end of the season the Serie A club are hoping to cash in on the want-away talent this month. 

After selling Sebastien Haller to Ajax last week, West Ham now only have one striker in their squad in the form of Michail Antonio. 

As such, a forward like Milik is desperately needed at the Premier League side. But how good would the 26-year-old forward be for David Moyes’ team? 

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Although Milik hasn’t played for Napoli at all this season, we can still gauge the player’s ability based on what he did for the Italian side before the two parties fell out with one another. 

For example, in the 2018/19 season Milik enjoyed an impressive goal scoring record of 20 goals in 47 games for Napoli in all season. And while his record in the following campaign wasn’t quite as prolific, he still managed to bag 14 goals in 35 games, including three in just five Champions League matches. 

Arkadiusz Milik goal scoring record for Napoli

Over the course of those two seasons Milik tended to either play as a mobile striker or as a poacher for Napoli, which meant he was usually tasked with receiving the ball in the box or in halfspaces outside it, while exploiting space to find opportunities to shoot or create chances for other players. 

Perhaps the most appealing quality of Milik as a forward, aside from his goal scoring, is that he’s very different from the more physical and direct Antonio. Which, in turn, would allow Moyes to either play both striker alongside one another or mix and match them from one game to the next, depending on what the West Ham manager’s tactics and coming opponents dictate. 

Indeed, while any striker arriving in January always poses a risk to the buying club, West Ham’s ability to receive a significant fee from Ajax for Haller and then potentially sign Milik for very little at all should be seen as a fantastic bit of business by the club. The Polish forward would need to prove his fitness is up to scratch after missing out on this entire season to date, but Milik has proven to be a dependable goalscorer in the Italian top flight and should do the same if he makes the move to London.