He impressed for Górnik Zabrze as a kid and earned himself a move to Bayer Leverkusen. Unfortunately for him, his time in the BayArena was short and after demotion into the reserves, he had been sent out on loan to Augsburg. The Pole failed to get the most out of the opportunity but Ajax seen something in him and signed him on a loan deal for 12 months.
He finished the 2014/15 effort with 23 in all contests and after making the move to the Dutch giants permanent, he followed up with 24 goals the season afterward.
He scored twice on his debut and netted doubles against Dynamo Kyiv and Bologna to kick off his career with the Partenopei in fashion.
But he tore the ligament in his other knee in September and did not return until 2018. Nobody knew whether he would ever rediscover his form but throughout the 2018/19 effort, his first complete one back in three years, the 26-year-old ended the season with 17 Serie A strikes to his name. So far this term he’s nine in 16.
And teams are taking note. Based on Calciomercato.com, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has already made it known to the participant’s entourage that he won’t listen to supplies of less than $40million. The Italian club claim $50million appears to be the cost for the attacker.
The trio of Premier League clubs are reportedly interested in the 6ft1ins ahead and are keeping tabs on his position in Naples. If Napoli opt to cash in, they have all positioned themselves in the front of the queue.
Over the last two seasons, Milik is averaging 0.57 open-play goals per 90. When looking at his anticipated goals average, the Napoli No.99 is on the level. However, once taking his post-shot anticipated goals average into consideration, it does not paint the former Ajax man in a positive light.
For those not acquainted with the latter stat, this metric takes into consideration where the shot was taken from and in which the attempt lands on target. The elite forward always have a greater post-shot xG average since, well, they are better finishers.
Milik is devaluing his opportunities. A difference of 0.09 may not look like much but over the course of a 38-game season, it is a swing of almost four goals.
When looking at Milik’s shot placement map, you can kind of understand why this is true. Almost 50 percent of his shots are hitting the middle of the goal. Nevertheless, only 25 percent of his goals arrive at these regions. By comparison, 21 percent of his shots would be to Milik’s right-hand but near 50 percent of his goals come from these efforts.
He’s having chances, 4.11 per 90 to be accurate, but he is not making the most of these, not correctly. In the Premier League, players can not afford to be wasteful. Odds are at a premium and with all these teams fighting it out for a top-four location, opportunities will need to be taken. Milik is consistent, not in a fantastic way. While he’s young enough to improve, he is still only 26, parting with $50million are a small gamble, an unnecessary one in the present climate.
Milik is a fantastic goalscorer but he is not a great one. Those interested clubs want the latter, not the former.
