Milik says 'yes' to Atlético

Diego Costa's goodbye is now official and now Atlético has to accelerate to close the signing of his replacement. Arkadiusz Milik is the first name on the list of sports director Andrea Berta, who has been negotiating with his environment for months. AS revealed in June the telematic meeting between the manager and the player, and the intention to return to the load in January for the Polish, who has scored 48 goals in 122 appearances for Napoli. The 26-year-old forward, as this newspaper learned, has already given his “yes, I want” to the rojiblancos, who are now negotiating with De Laurentiis, something never simple.

The southerners are still asking for at least 15 million euros to get rid of the forward, despite having just six months left on his contract. For the Italian president it is a matter of principle, and he has shown it. This summer he rejected several offers that were around 20 million and the operation with Roma was broken after the player already passed the first part of the medical examination with the giallorossi in Switzerland.

Milik is not registered in any competition and, in addition, the club confirmed the trials for the riot of a year ago and for an issue of image rights. If in January he does not find a new club, he would stay the entire year in the stands, perhaps losing his place in the Eurocup. It will be tried to avoid it, and the contacts with the Atleti are constant. The Pole is the priority of the mattresses (ahead of Loren or Dzeko), but there is still distance between the clubs.

The hope is that De Laurentiis will lower his claims and accept an offer that is around 8-10 million variables included, something that has not yet happened. The feeling, in Naples, is that the case will take time to resolve, but the rojiblancos, with Costa's goodbye, cannot take the matter calmly. Simeone needs a new striker as soon as possible.