Tottenham have signed Carlos Vinicius on a season-long loan from Benfica and have the option to buy him permanently next summer, but they’re also still trying to bring in Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli. Calciomercato say we’re unwilling to sign him now, however, and instead want him on a free transfer next year.
The 26-year-old’s contract expires in 2021 and he’s unlikely to sign an extension, so he could be unattached when this season comes to a close. Calciomercato say we need to be mindful of interest from Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, however.
Levy managed to sign Vinicius on loan and only has to put £2.7m up front, but he may be too ambitious trying to sign Milik on a free transfer. A lot can change in a year and Napoli aren’t going to risk missing out on money by not cashing in early.
Milik has made 122 appearances in all competitions for Napoli, scoring 48 goals with five assists. He’s netted double figures in Serie A for the last two seasons and isn’t short on interest. Napoli should be inundated with offers from suitors, so I don’t see how Levy will pull this off.
With the Polish international turning down a contract extension, it’s clear he doesn’t want to stay another year at the Stadio San Paolo, so we may have to bite the bullet and make a move now. Milik scored just two goals in his last 12 league appearances and hasn’t featured this season, so his future looks up in Naples.
I believe there’s a slim chance we could sign him permanently this summer. Napoli are requesting €30m (£27.16m) for Milik who earns €90k-per-week/€4.68m-a-year (£81k-per-week/£4.2m-a-year), so he wouldn’t break the bank.
If we can offload some of the deadwood (Paulo Gazzaniga, Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth) before the window shuts, we should generate enough funds to bring Milik to North London. Time will tell.
Levy does what Levy does, however, so he might try his hardest to long this saga out.
In other news, here’s a Heung-min Son injury update ahead of Sunday’s Manchester United clash