Krysztof Piatek: the striker who wreaks havoc in Europe

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Everyone is talking about him: he came to Milan from Genoa to replace Gonzalo Higuain, and in his first 7 games as a 'rossonero' he scored 7 goals

He played in Genoa, a half-board team in Italy and maybe that's why many had not heard about him. If we go a little further back, until the 2017-18 season, he played in KS Krakow in Poland, where there were fewer chances to locate him in the soccer radar. Even so, his goalscoring records opened the field until today's AC Milan, a big club with a long tradition, but one that has been in decay in the last decade.

Leer en español: Krysztof Piatek: el delantero que causa estragos en Europa

With the 'rossoneros', seven times European champions, Krysztof Piatek gave himself the luxury of scoring 7 goals in his first 7 games, and quickly made everyone forget who he had replaced, the Argentinian Gonzalo Higuain, who went to Chelsea. Currently, Piatek is already on the radar of the great European teams, even some already mention Real Madrid, after showing his natural instincts as a scorer.

In LatinAmerican Post we want to propose this 23-year-old Polish artilleryman as one of the next soccer jewels, based on what we have seen on the field and in what some media like Prensa Libre state. They say that, in addition to Cristiano Ronaldo with Juventus, the other proper name in Italian soccer this season is Piatek, who has already scored seven goals in six games since joining Milan in January.

Respectable numbers

As if that were not enough, the Polish has scored 18 goals in 25 games, including the aforementioned first stage with Genoa. In the A series, only the Portuguese star surpasses him with 19 goals. It does not end there: the same media assures that Piatek totals 26 goals in total (he sums up 8 in the Italian Cup between the two teams), being surpassed only, in general terms, by two 'monsters' of world soccer such as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, referring to all the leagues in Europe. "I believe in myself, but it is more than I would have expected," acknowledged Piatek.

If we make a comparison of Piatek's numbers and those of CR7, based on El Mundo from Spain, it is not even difficult to predict that Piatek can dethrone the Portuguese in what remains of the campaign.

Cristiano has 19 goals in 25 matches for an average of 0.76, while Piatek has scored 18 in 24 for 0.75, almost identical numbers, but that does not include the Italian Cup, but only the A Series. Between both competitions, Piatek exceeds Ronaldo with 26 in all the tournaments, with 18 in the League (13 with Genoa in 17 games and 5 with Milan in 6 games), so his average improves. Are we in the presence of a striker that we will soon see in an even bigger club? Today it seems pretty likely.

Read also: Controversial Ranking! The Milan was out of the 10 best clubs in history

Pure praise

His technician, Gattuso, nicknames him 'Robocop' and describes him very well. "Kris is a player that say few words, he does not waste time talking. He says four words, like 'I want to score' or 'I want to break it'". In turn, the coach Marcelo Lippi, world champion with Italy in 2006, defines him this way: "When talking about a center forward, the prototype is Piatek. There are the false 9, the attacks with three players, but what defines a 9 is what Piatek does", highlighted Prensa Libre and Ovación Digital, after a reply to La Gazzeta Dello Sport.

Fichaje had already warned in January: the arrival of Piatek to Milan was almost imminent before the unwillingness of Higuain to want to remain in the club and that the negotiation would be for about 35 million euros, plus a bonus if they qualify for the next edition of the Champions League, which is the main objective.

This Polish seems to be what Milan has always been waiting for since the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2013: a natural top scorer, something that Fernando Torres, Carlos Bacca, Luiz Adriano, André Silva, and Higuain were not.

As reported by Prensa Libre, that negotiation between Milan and Genoa and the interest of Chelsea in Higuain made Piatek become news, before arriving, because few knew him and were amazed to see a striker that will generate that domino effect, in which Álvaro Morata and Gelson Martins also participated.

Falcao's mate?

Milan is between big and small again in Europe. For that reason, it is already rumored that they seek to accompany Piatek. In fact, according to Pasión Futbol, the recent visit of Colombian striker Radamel Falcao to Italy has sown rumors that already link him to a team in Calcio for 2019-20.

According to the Calciomercato, Falcao would be an interesting option for Milan, especially since already at the beginning of this 2019 it had been speculated on with its possible arrival at the Lombard square. Nevertheless, Lazio, which also seeks to play the Champions League, has a good relationship with Jorge Mendes, representative of the Colombian striker. We'll see, but certainly seeing Falcao and Piatek together can be very attractive to soccer fans.

LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano

Translated from "Krysztof Piatek: el delantero que causa estragos en Europa"