Milik Arkadiusz
Arkadiusz Krystian “Arek” Milik is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Poland national team. Milik began his career as a footballer in the Rozwój Katowice youth squad. In 2011, he signed a one-year contract with Górnik Zabrze, and in 2012 he transferred to Bayer Leverkusen and later played on loan for FC Augsburg and Ajax respectively. In 2015–16, he was purchased by Ajax on a four-year deal for a reported €2.8 million fee. While playing for Ajax, Milik became one of the top goalscorers in Eredivisie. On 1 August 2016, he joined Italian club Napoli for €35 million, effectively replacing Gonzalo Higuaín. At international level, he participated at UEFA Euro 2016 with Poland, where his nation reached the quarter-final stage of the tournament. He also took part at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where his team was eliminated in the group stage.
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Usually deployed as an out-and-out striker, Milik is a versatile and well-rounded left-footed forward who is also capable of playing off another forward as a second striker or as a winger, due to his ability to both score and create goals. He possesses pace and good movement off the ball, as well as a powerful and accurate shot, which make him an excellent finisher and goalscorer; he is also physically strong, agile, and a good header of the ball, which allows him to excel in the air. His playing style has been compared to that of his compatriot Robert Lewandowski in the Polish sports media. Regarded as a promising young striker in his youth, in 2012, Don Balón named him one of the 101 most promising young players in the world born after 1991. In 2013, Milik began dating professional Polish model Jessica Ziółek. Milik features on the cover of the Polish version of FIFA 16 alongside global cover star Lionel Messi. Milik is a devoted fan of Manchester United. Milik says he “dreams of playing for Manchester United”, but insists he’s “far from it”. Milik’s childhood football hero is Cristiano Ronaldo; in an interview during Euro 2016, he said he followed Ronaldo closely and had been inspired by the Portuguese striker.
