Do West Ham need a cold glass of Milik?

With the departure of Sebastien Haller to Ajax, West Ham have been linked with a whole host of strikers in the last 13 days.

While it seems like a deal for Reims Striker Boulaye Dia may be close, West Ham fans know that negotiations can collapse at any time. If a deal for Dia does fall through, there is a good and cheaper option that could be on the cards for David Moyes’ side.

Napoli Striker Arkadiusz Milik has recently been linked with a move to the Hammers by Napoli Magazine. The Italian website has claimed that West Ham have offered £6.3 million for the 26-year-old.

Here are some pros and cons for signing Milik:

Pros

The Poland international could be a smart and cheap signing for West Ham given his goal-scoring record. Milik has scored 48 goals in 122 appearances for the Italian side, with most of those appearances being off the bench according to TransferMarkt.

The Napoli striker clearly knows where the back of the net is and could be that clinical 10+ goal a season striker that we’ve been crying out for. In the 2018/19 season the player scored 17 league goals according to WhoScored.com.

Milik’s contract runs out in the summer meaning he is now available for a bargain price, with Napoli said to be holding out for nearer to £9 million for the striker.

The 26-year-old also hasn’t been registered for the 2020/21 season, meaning that he is most definitely on the way out. Milik has performed at the highest level and has scored 7 goals in 14 Champions League appearances.

Milik could bring that winning mentality to West Ham’s front line. The Polish striker is also only 26-years-old which means he still has at least 5 years of his prime ahead of him.

Cons

The big issue is that Milik was not registered in Napoli’s 25-man squad this season, meaning the 26-year-old hasn’t played a match in over 5 months. Milik turned down a new contract at the Italian club which has resulted in his expulsion from the squad.

This means that if West Ham can tempt the player to East London, then it could take a while to get him match fit.

While the Polish internationals goal scoring record is fairly inconsistent and while he was used as an impact substitute in previous seasons, some of his returns were fairly poor. His two best seasons at Napoli came in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons where he scored 17 and 11 league goals respectively.

However, when he is not firing on all cylinders it shows, with the Striker only scoring 5 League goals each in both the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons. On the other hand, it can be argued that he has moved on from that inconsistency as Milik has scored 10+ goals in his last two full seasons.

Milik could be a great addition to West Ham if the Dia transfer falls through. The Polish international has shown that he does possess that quality and lethal instinct in front of goal. Could he be the man to help fire West Ham to Europa League qualification?