Tottenham strike target frozen out by Napoli after summer exit fell through

Napoli have frozen Arkadiusz Milik out of action after leaving the Tottenham and Everton linked striker out of their squad lists for the new season.

Only one year remains on Milik’s contract with Napoli, and the signing of Victor Osimhen over the summer pushed him further down the pecking order.

The Polish striker underwent a medical with Roma during the transfer window, before that move fell through. He was unable to seal a different move elsewhere.

Since then, rumours have emerged that he could be a target for Premier League teams. Tottenham were on the hunt for a striker before signing Carlos Vinicius, for example, but reports suggested Milik turned them down.

The 26-year-old was also linked with a reunion with Carlo Ancelotti at Everton. However, the former Napoli boss decided against signing a striker of his profile.

Despite no move materialising, Milik still has no future at Napoli – with the Serie A side’s intentions confirmed by their squad lists for Serie A and the Europa League.

Milik has been left out of both lists, meaning he will not be able to play until January at the earliest.

In Serie A, teams can register up to 25 players aged 23 or over, as well as several under-22 players. However, Milik does not feature in their 25-man list.

There are even fewer spaces available for Napoli’s Europa League squad list, due to a lack of homegrown players. That means former Spurs striker Fernando Llorente and full-back Kevin Malcuit have also missed out on the European squad, despite being available for selection in Serie A.

Tottenham warned about future Belotti chances

Another Serie A based striker who was a target for Tottenham this summer was Andrea Belotti.

Belotti has excelled in Serie A in recent years, scoring 94 goals in 194 appearances for Torino.

And Torino’s sporting director revealed recently that Spurs made an enquiry about the Italian.

“He has values that are crucial for being the captain of Torino,” Davide Vagnati said.

“We had a chat with Tottenham but Belotti is too important for us.”

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