Spurs look to bolster attack with loan of Piatek

Tottenham Hotspur are currently dealing with a rash of injuries on the senior squad. With players such as Harry Kane, Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko and a few others all out for extended periods of time, Spurs may be forced into doing some type of move in order to bolster the lineup.

Enter David Hytner of The Guardian, who reports that Spurs are now chasing after AC Milan striker Krzysztof Piątek. According to Hytner, Spurs are wanting a loan while Milan would rather sell off the Polish International:

Milan, who have re-signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, are prepared to sell Piątek, a 24-year-old Poland forward, if they can recoup the £30m they paid to take him from Genoa last January.

An expensive permanent deal would not appear to suit Spurs or, indeed, Newcastle and Aston Villa, who have also shown an interest in Piątek. The Premier League clubs would prefer a loan. Milan do not want that but it remains to be seen whether their position changes in the countdown to the 31 January deadline.

Piątek joined AC Milan last January in a £34m deal with Genoa. The move made sense at the time for Milan as they needed a jolt in their attack. Piątek scored 19 goals in 21 appearances for Genoa, who purchased him from Polish-side Cracovia in 2018. Since joining Milan, he’s bagged 15 goals in 39 appearances, but he has just four goals this season. Stats on FBRef suggest that he’s doing well in the xG department but is mired in a brutal finishing stretch.

Piątek is 24 years old so there’s still plenty of time for him to turn things around, but Milan’s asking price is £30m and that’s going to scare off just about everyone. This is why Spurs are interested in a loan, though it doesn’t appear there’s anything on a possible option to buy at the end of the spell. Right now, Spurs have Son Heung-Min and Troy Parrott as players who will regularly play the striker role, though Dele could be pushed up in a pinch if necessary.

The jury is out on Piątek and I have no clue if he’s actually good or not. His shot numbers from Genoa are fantastic, where he had a .62 G+A/90 in the 2017-18 campaign. He carried those numbers over to Milan in the second half of the 2018-19 season where he had a .59 G+A/90. Since then, he’s either come down to Earth or he’s in the aforementioned slump.

Hytner is about as tuned-in with transfer news as anyone, so there is definitely something here to follow. However, I personally don’t think Spurs are going to drop £30m for a player who will end up on the bench when Kane comes back and Milan might be too bullheaded to accept that nobody wants him until at least the summer. Convince Milan a loan is the best way and this has legs. Otherwise, I’d rather look at other positions if we’re going to do a permanent transfer.