Napoli name their price for Everton target Milik
Italian club Napoli have declared the fee they want for want-away Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik. So will Everton make a move for the forward next month?
Milik is a name that has kept popping up over the past few weeks and Everton have been strongly linked with a January move for the striker.
Today Goal.com claim that the Serie A club are ready to try and sell the Pole in the January window before he becomes a free agent in the summer.
The Italian club want around £15 million for the Poland international. This does seem like quite a large fee for a player who will cost nothing in six months time.
There are several positions where the Toffees might consider strengthening next month, if the money is available to do so.
There are long-term problems to solve at right-back ,especially with the ongoing injury issues and the age of Seamus Coleman.
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Another area of the team that has been a concern is the right of the midfield/attack.
James Rodriguez has solved this problem but when he has been absent through injury, the lack of a suitable alternative has been exposed.
There’s also a sense that teams might be beginning to work out how to blunt the Colombian’s effectiveness and his influence and that with him there is also a lack of pace in that area of the team.
But perhaps the excellent recent form of Alex Iwobi gives Carlo Ancelotti a different option there and solves that issue.
Another critical position might be finding a suitable back-up to England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The current options behind him in the squad, Cenk Tosun and Ellis Simms aren’t able to step up in his place for various reasons.
Tosun simply isn’t a good enough player for the top end of the Premier League and Simms is still a very young forward learning his trade so probably needs a bit more time.
Milik has many excellent qualities. He’s a good finisher and a strong centre-forward who holds the ball up well, something Calvert-Lewin is of course renowned for.
A centre-forward who can provide that support for Calvert-Lewin to give him a break or step in if he were to get injured, would seem a reasonable objective for the club in the January transfer window. Although I think a loan deal would be a better bet.