Reports suggest Newcastle United are tempted to break their transfer record in January, with speculation that they’re looking at Genoa’s Krzysztof Piatek.
Krzysztof Piatek has grabbed a lot of headlines this season – but that’s the least you expect when a striker scores nine times in his first 11 Serie A starts.
The Pole signed for Genoa in the summer for a fee of £3m and he’s already being linked with a much bigger move elsewhere.
One team reportedly looking at the 23-year-old is Newcastle United, with the Northern Echo claiming that the Magpies have been scouting him this year.
He would be a coup for Newcastle, there’s no doubt about that, but he would surely require them to break their 13-year-old transfer record, the signing of Michael Owen from Real Madrid for £16m.
According to the Chronicle, Newcastle and Mike Ashley are prepared to break it for the right player, and Piatek could very well be that player if the club decides to move forward with him.
But that transfer would be an almighty risk for the club. Piatek started the season in sensational form but he hasn’t scored in any of his last five games for Genoa.
While he may have demonstrated his ability to finish at the top level, he certainly hasn’t proven that he can do it over the course of a season, meaning that any club that signs him will be doing so out of faith.
Can Newcastle afford that? Especially with their highest fee for over a decade? On the one hand, you’d say no and that the club needs far more certainty with any big signing right now – if his start to the season was an anomaly, they’re left with very little return on their spend.
There is an argument that a big risk could be worth it for the potential gain – if Piatek delivered a similar goal return, he’d give Newcastle exactly what they lack most as well as seeing an immediate rise in his value.
He could be a flash in the pan, however, and if Newcastle are serious about a big signing, they should almost certainly look for genuine progress rather than risking it all on a player with a few months of great form.
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