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Football

07th Oct 2018

Meet the Polish striker who is set to be linked with every European giant in January

Wayne Farry

Krzysztof Piatek this weekend equalled a record not hit since Gabriel Batistuta set it during the 1994/95 season

No player since Argentinian legend Gabriel Batistuta had scored in the opening seven games of a Serie A season, that is until Genoa’s Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek came along.

The 23-year-old, who moved to Genoa from Cracovia for just £3.5 million in June, now has nine goals for the season, three ahead of nearest challenger, Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne.

He has an absolutely ludicrous minutes-per-goal ratio of 70, 27 minutes better than Insigne, and 110 minutes better than Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.

His goals have undoubtedly been the high point to a distinctly average start to the season for Genoa, who currently finds themselves slap bang in tenth place in Serie A.

Quite whether Piatek can actually better Batistuta’s overall record remains to be seen. The Argentine striker – after scoring in his first seven games – went on to score in a further four consecutive games, making it a ridiculous 11 consecutive games in total.

Genoa’s next Serie A match, on October 20 against Juventus, may well go some way to letting us know if he does.

Whether he breaks that record or not, Piatek has firmly planted himself well within the cross hairs of scouts of Champions League clubs, all of whom will fancy their chances of tempting Genoa with the chance to make a 100 percent profit on their summer acquisition.

While that fee may seem steep for a player with just seven league games under his belt, it would represent a bargain for clubs more accustomed to splashing out twice as much for their striking talent.