Around a year ago, Krzysztof Piatek was the darling of AC Milan.
Moving from Genoa, the striker hit the ground running and scored five goals in his first four matches for the club. His figures for the season, across both clubs, stood at 30 goals in 42 matches.
Now he’s being edged out of the picture and could be a January signing for West Ham or Aston Villa.
This season Piatek has four goals in 18 appearances. Whilst that’s not disastrous form, Milan have fallen out of love with him. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival pushes the 24 year old further out, and Sportmediaset say he’s on the market.
Piatek is said to realise a move isn’t such a bad idea, but it’s thought he’s likelier to head out of Italy than move elsewhere in Serie A. West Ham are described as being in ‘pole position’, and they’ve made contact over a transfer.
Aston Villa are also said to have been in touch, along with Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.
West Ham ‘seem the most willing to invest’ and this is a ‘decisive week’.
AC Milan paid €35m for Piatek, and they want €32m to be able to avoid a loss on their accounts.