Scoring a brace against Liverpool in Napoli’s 4-1 demolition of Jürgen Klopp’s side, Piotr Zielinski put himself back on the radar of many English fans.
However, the West Ham United faithful will have been sorely aware of his name already, as the Hammers were strongly linked with the Pole over the course of the summer.
Eventually signing Lucas Paqueta, David Moyes’ side spent most of the transfer window looking at midfielders, with offers made for the Napoli man and Matheus Nunes before finally lumping on the Brazilian.
Either way, Corriere dello Sport, looking at Zielinski, recall what happened over the summer, stating that ‘West Ham courted him’ and a ‘monster offer was ready’.
However, the player ‘chose not to leave’, wanting to carry on his career in Naples a bit longer, especially after Luciano Spalletti made it clear he would be a key member of his 4-3-3.
The player repaid that faith with great form, and reminded everyone why Liverpool wanted him before his move to Napoli, back in 2016.
As Corriere dello Sport put it, the midfielder has ‘always been a potential champions’, but the Reds felt ‘he cost too much’ at the time.
Napoli, on the other hand, believed in him, and was happy to spend €15m on the then Udinese player.
Since then, ‘the brace in the Champions League has accentuated English regrets and Italian pride’.
