Arkadiusz Milik set for Marseille switch after agreement made

Nicholas Hughes

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Arkadiusz Milik is on the brink of swapping Napoli for Marseille after the two clubs reportedly reached an agreement for a transfer, according to beIN Sports.

The French outfit will pay an initial €8 million with €5 million in add-ons and the Pole is set to sign a long-term deal until 2025.

The 26-year-old has not played a minute for Napoli this season after Victor Osimhen’s arrival in the summer relegated him further down the pecking order.

Milik scored 11 goals for Gennaro Gattuso’s men last season, having also worked under Carlo Ancelotti, and will leave with 38 Serie A goals to his name across 93 appearances.

He arrived at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, or Stadio San Paolo as it was then, with much hype having registered 21 goals and seven assists for Ajax in the 2015/16 season.

After a slow start saw him only start seven league games in his first two seasons, Milik finally broke through and enjoyed his best campaign two seasons ago, netting 17 times and adding three assists.

But persistent knee issues saw him miss a large chunk of football between October 2016 and March 2018 which ultimately hampered his growth and development.  

Marseille have only scored 26 goals which ranks them just 11^th in Ligue 1 this season despite the fact they are pushing for Champions League qualification.

Arkadiusz Milik can lift Marseille up the table

The absence of a prolific centre forward has hurt them, with Florian Thauvin leading the goalscoring with six strikes and first-choice striker Dario Benedetto only chipping in with four.

Milik will come straight into the side and take up the position at centre forward and will hope to hit the ground running in his first action of the 2020/21 season.

Les Olympiens have the third best defence in the league, so if Milik can add goals to their game a return to the Champions League is very much up for grabs.

West Ham were believed to be interested in Milik but have now turned their attention to Sevilla’s talisman Youssef En-Nesyri.