After Everton spent £57m in one day, completing the signing of Davy Klaassen and Jordan Pickford, some Liverpool fans were infuriated with the minimal activity done by the other club in Liverpool. The Reds, however, have revisited a target from the last transfer window, Polish midfield maestro Piotr Zielinski.
Zielinski to Liverpool was looking very likely in the last transfer window though due to some constraints, the deal never came through and there is hope that this summer it will be a different story.
Liverpool are prepared to pay £25 million for his services, though the Reds will face competition from another Premier League club in Tottenham, who are also very happy with what they have seen in the youngster, but Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, is adamant that the player will not be sold.
But what kind of player is Piotr Zielinski?
The 23-year-old Polish international is a center attacking midfielder by trade and has been a part of the setup in Naples since 2016, when he completed his move there from Udinese for €16m. From the 22 starts that Zielinski has made he has hit the back of the net 3 and also assisted 5 in this period.
Piotr Zielinski is a versatile player as he has been deployed in central midfielder, attacking midfield and even on the right wing. However, despite being predominantly a central player, Zielinski has contributed by playing on the right wing.
A standout aspect of Zielinski’s game is his attacking intent even when playing in central midfielder. He makes the late runs into the box, with his style of playing one-two’s combined with his flair and agility makes him a vital cog in the Napoli side. That isn’t all as Zielinski is blessed with a wand of a left foot which is orchestrated in picking passes no one envisages on the football pitch. This, along with a great long shot which he possesses, does make him a threat from anywhere in the attacking third. Piotr often gathers the ball which has been won back by his team and is always eyeing the next through ball.
Though considering these positives there is a few downsides to his game which are;
1.- Finishing. Piotr Zielinski does ever so well in carrying the ball from his half to the opponent’s goal, be it by direct running with the ball or playing simple one-two’s, but he lacks the final finish. This is one reason why he has only scored thrice this season for Napoli and for a forward thinking kind of player that he is, that is not good enough.
2-Aerial Duels. When playing in the midfield one thing that is important for a midfielder is to win his aerial duels. This is the other negative about Zielinski’s game as he is not the tallest or most physical player on the pitch, often losing out in the physical battle.
Zielinski is a kind of midfielder Liverpool lack as there isn’t currently someone who can provide this dimension. Liverpool will compete on several fronts next season and a signing like Piotr will definitely beef up the paper thin squad that Liverpool have.
£25 million is the initial offer that Liverpool have put in and if it is to remain so I think it would be great business considering some of the ludicrous figures that have been thrown about recently. Ahem ahem Moussa Sissoko.
Klopp has had very good relations to Polish footballers in the past, Robert Lewandowski, Łukasz Piszczek and Jakub Błaszczykowski to name a few, and we hope Piotr Zielinski will be in the same mould.
Would he be a success if he joined Liverpool?
