Following his majestic goal against Crotone, performing a Bergkampesque flick to see off the last defender, Sampdoria’s Patrik Schick has seen the hype around him grow substantially over the past few days.
Interest from bigger and bigger clubs has been touted in the Italian media, with Gazzetta dello Sport leading the way on Thursday by throwing most big Premier League clubs into the mix.
We’ve already covered Tottenham’s interest, as it appears to be the most recurring, but now it appears that Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City are all interested too.
We’ll eliminate Manchester as a destination for now, with José Mourinho’s side needing instant quality, while Pep Guardiola already has a certain Gabriel Jesus to develop in that role behind Sergio Agüero.
That leaves the two London clubs, with Arsenal rumoured on Wednesday to have already met with the player’s agent, according to Corriere dello Sport.
The situation surrounding Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez certainly suggests a new striker could be on its way to the Emirates in the summer, despite Arsène Wenger’s insistence neither are leaving in the coming months.
As for Chelsea, the Stamford Bridge faithful seem to be coming to terms with the fact Michy Batshuayi’s future appears to be somewhere other than London, meaning Antonio Conte could look around for a new Diego Costa (or Romelu Lukaku?) backup in the summer.
Gazzetta dello Sport report scouts from all those clubs have been instructed to keep an eye on the Czech Republic international in the coming weeks.
With a release clause currently standing at €25m, Schick is an affordable target for most sides, something Sampdoria know, which is why they’ve decided to start talks with his representatives about a new deal with a €40m clause included.
It’s almost as if all this interest has caused the Serie A club to consider making a tidy profit on a player they only spent £4m on in the summer.
