4 Things You Need To Know About Krzysztof Piatek Ahead Of Potential Deadline Day Swoop

David Tully

4 years ago

Categories: Chelsea News, Galleries, Transfer News

Tags: AC Milan, Chelsea, Krzysztof Piatek, Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is said to be very keen to snap up a new striker before the transfer window closes on Friday night.

The Blues’ top target is believed to be Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani but with the Uruguayan said to be favouring a move to Atletico Madrid, and with PSG demanding £12.6m to sell him this month, Lampard has been considering alternatives.

AC Milan’s Krzysztof Piatek has emerged as a potential target. The Polish international is also being looked at by Spurs but if the Blues do make their move for the Serie A striker, what should fans be expecting?

Press the “next page” as we look at four things supporters need to know about the 24-year-old ahead of a potential switch to Stamford Bridge.

1) He has a had a rapid rise to prominence

Piatek was still playing in Poland just over 18 months ago. However, his 21 goals in 36 league appearances for Cracovia in the 2017/18 season led to him being brought to the attention of Genoa.

The Serie A side snapped him up for only €4m in June 2018; a fee which proved to be a bargain when he began the 2018/19 campaign in style…

2) He was a goal machine in Italy that led to a big-money move

Piatek simply couldn’t stop scoring after arriving at Genoa. He scored four on his debut in a Coppa Italia tie against Lecce before going on to bag one just six minutes into his league debut versus Empoli.

The Polish striker scored in seven successive Serie A matches at the start of the campaign, scoring nine times. After 19 goals in 21 appearances, AC Milan came calling.

The Rossoneri were looking for a replacement for Gonzalo Higuain who was moving to Chelsea, so they shelled out €35m on Piatek in January 2019.

3) The dry spell in front of goal

Piatek started out life at Milan in great form, scoring 11 goals in his 21 appearances during the second half of the 2018/19 campaign.

However, he scored just once in his last seven league games and that barren run continued into the start of this season where he has only hit the back of the net four times. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival hasn’t helped matters either, with Piatek having had to settle for a place on the bench in the last three matches.

4) You’re probably pronouncing his name wrong

You may have noticed that Piatek has an accent under the ‘a’ on his name, which in Polish means it is pronounced differently.

Rather than ‘Piat-ek,’ he is called ‘Pian-tek’ which I doubt many people are aware of.