Why Serie A star should reject Madrid and Barcelona

@snhw_
17 ott 2018

Before June, Polish forward Krzysztof Piatek was known by few outside of Poland. The then-Cracovia striker had just finished a season finishing third in the top scorers list of the 17/18 Polish Ekstraklasa. Piatek had been called up for the initial 35-man-squad for the 2018 World Cup but was cut from the team for the tournament itself.

At the start of June, Genoa signed Piatek from Cracovia for a figure of around €4 million. Since then, he has become one of the hottest names around Europe, scoring nine goals in his first seven games of the Serie A season – despite the bridge collapse which marred Genoa’s start to the season.

With his goalscoring form, Piatek is already a target of many top clubs, after just five-and-a-half months in Genoa. Inter Milan and Napoli appear to be the top suitors in Serie A whilst abroad Real Madrid and Barcelona are starting to rear their omnipresent heads.

Madrid signed Mariano over the summer but are still relying on Karim Benzema, neither of which truly replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Madrid for Juventus in a €110m deal this summer. Barcelona still have a strong attack but with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez both steering towards the twilight years of their careers, they could look to the future with 23-year-old Krzystof Piatek.

However, it would be perhaps unwise for Piatek to make a big money move to Real Madrid or Barcelona at this stage in his career. Having moved from the Polish Ekstraklasa to Serie A, Piatek has clearly taken little time to adapt, given the technicality of the leagues and the fact that Genoa are not a huge team with immense pressure on them to perform. Piatek has been allowed to start his career with Genoa on his own terms in his own way, which suits a high-potential player who is just starting to exponentially grow in skill.

For Krzysztof Piatek to best better his career, he should at least remain in Italy. If not with Genoa then perhaps a move to Inter or Napoli next summer. Both clubs appear to be interested in making a move in January – yet this could have negative effects on the Pole’s performance, as he would undeniably take time to adapt to a new set-up.

Piatek’s development is best served, at least for the rest of this season, in Genoa. Piatek can help Genoa shoot up the table and, in return, Genoa can offer him help to develop his skill – as well as giving him the chance to move on when the time, and the money, is right. Genoa could see offers of over €60 million fly in over January and it will take a heavy resolve for the club to turn down that kind of offer – of over €55 million profit in half a season.

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