Juventus transfer news: Italian giants poised to pick OM’s Arkadiusz Milik over Barcelona’s Memphis Depay

Arkadiusz Milik is getting closer to become a new Juventus player. The Italian side, in consultation with coach Massimiliano Allegri have decided to sign another striker in the last days of the transfer window. The club’s original plan was to have another player on the roster that could either play as a traditional striker or in different positions on the pitch, but of the two names remaining on their list this week only Barcelona striker Memphis Depay fit that description while Olympique Marseille’ Milik is more of a traditional striker. But the final decision came after failing to score against Sampdoria in a match that ended goalless and revealed many issues in the squad, issues that were exacerbated by injuries to key players Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa. In the end, Allegri opted for the former Napoli striker.

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The Italian club prioritized signing Milik, despite having a Depay deal in their hands. The Dutch striker could arrive as free agent after terminating his contract with Barcelona, while Milik will be a loan deal worth €2 million with an option to buy included in the agreement between Juventus and OM. 

Milik is basically a pure number nine that can give Allegri another option on the roster other than starter Dusan Vlahovic and Moise Kean. Allegri needed a backup striker that could guarantee a number of goals and already knows Serie A soccer. The Polish striker played with Napoli for 122 matches and scored 48 goals in all competitions. When he arrived at Napoli in the summer 2016, he was the replacement of club legend Gonzalo Higuain, who in the same summer decided to join Juventus after that Bianconeri triggered his €90 million release clause. His journey at Napoli started off well in the first weeks, until he tore his ACL and coach Maurizio Sarri was forced to play Dries Mertens as a number nine. That was a key moment in the career paths of both Milik and Mertens. The Belgian striker discovered a role he was born to play, slotting in alongside Insigne and Callejon, while Milik never really got his starting role back at Napoli, as he continually suffered through a slew of other injuries. 

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In January of 2021 he joined Olympique Marseille and scored 30 goals in 55 games. Milik has long been a possile target of Juventus as well. In the summer 2020, before his OM move, former Juventus sport director Fabio Paratici tried to sign Milik before ultimately opting for the comeback of Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid (ironically it’s Morata’s departure back to Atleti that in part opened the door for Milik at Juventus this time around). In the same summer, AS Roma also wanted Milik but after undergoing his medical the Giallorossi decided against signing him and he had to wait until January 2021 to find his new club. 

Milik is an experienced striker, who already played many crucial games in Italy and in European soccer and can give a real alternative to Dusan Vlahovic, who is now basically the only pure number nine in the squad, as Kean can play in different roles and operates more as a utility man in attack. Depay would have been a great addition in the roster, but it’s understandable that Allegri might be concerned about what would happen in the long term. When Chiesa will be back from his ACL injury and after the signings of Kostic and Di Maria, it just becomes a situation where finding enough minutes for everybody would be a challenge. Milik was the most logical choice in this sense as he’s purely Vlahovic’s backup, and a second striker that can come on if called for. The move will make Juventus more complete as they strive to get their season on track.