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Tottenham Hotspur are looking to bring in AC Milan striker Krzysztof Piatek before Friday's January transfer deadline with Chelsea closely monitoring the situation.

Spurs have held talks with Milan over the 24-year-old Poland international who is their main striker target. Piatek scored 30 goals in all competitions in Italy last season but has fallen down the pecking order this campaign with the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Serie A club.

With Harry Kane out injured until April, Tottenham are believed to be looking for a loan deal for Piatek with an option to buy, similar to the deal they did with Benfica for Gedson Fernandes, while the Italians want a more definite obligation to buy.

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Chelsea are also believed to be monitoring the situation as they look for another striker to bolster their forward ranks, following Tammy Abraham's injury. Barcelona have also reportedly enquired about the forward.

We spoke to Jarosław Koliński, a football journalist at Przeglad Sportowy, Poland's biggest sports newspaper, to get the full lowdown on Piatek and all his strengths and weaknesses.

"A year ago there was a kind of 'Piatek-mania' in Poland," explained Koliński. "Piatek moved to Milan from Genoa for 35million euros and it was a record fee for a Polish player ever.

"To be honest nobody expected that his talent would explode so much. In fact only his last two seasons in Poland were good. He scored 11 and 21 goals for Cracovia. Then suddenly it turned out that he can be so effective in Serie A as well."

On the strengths and weaknesses of the young striker, Koliński explained: "Piatek is typical number nine, a centre-forward. He can shoot with both feet and head. He has a good reaction time, in Poland we say that the ball always looks for him in the penalty area.

"Piatek is a natural goalscorer. His weakness is his speed, he is not very fast. Also he doesn't have technical abilities at the highest level. He is not a kind of natural dribbler."

While Piatek is a growing star in Poland, nobody is rushing to compare him to Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski.

"Is he a new Lewandowski? I don’t think so," said Koliński. "Lewandowski is the only one, and nobody can match his goalscoring record in Poland."

The Polish journalist admitted that it will be a big challenge for Piatek to make his mark in the Premier League after so many of his fellow countryman have failed and the key will be whether he hits the ground running.

"I'm anxious to sse if Piatek can be a star at Tottenham. That's because Polish outfield players rarely compete in the Premier League. Polish players have scored only four goals in the history of Premier League. Only three of them scored, including defenders Jan Bednarek and Marcin Wasilewski.

"We have had very good goalkeepers in England such as Boruc, Fabianski, Dudek, Kuszczak, but for some reason offensive players from Poland don’t play in the Premier League.

"The last one was Kamil Grosicki, who was at Hull in 2017. Now we have Bartosz Kapustka but he’s not even on Leicester’s bench."

Piatek would also have the daunting task of trying to fill the void left by Harry Kane should he join Spurs, one of the Premier League's most lethal goalscorers.

"It’s difficult to say if Piatek can replace Kane. Kane is, as Mourinho said, irreplaceable. If Piatek wants to do it, he needs to do it from the very beginning," said Koliński.

"In Poland we remember Grzegorz Rasiak, a Polish forward played for Spurs and never scored a goal for them. He put the ball in the net on his debut against Liverpool, bu it was disallowed for offside. He never really lived up at the expectations, so I hope with Piatek it will be different story."

He added: "Zbigniew Boniek, Polish football legend, said this about Piatek. 'He has acquired what is most important for a striker, that is, the speed of execution. He instantly reloads the pistol and pulls the trigger.

"'Speed is one of the most difficult elements to improve. Much depends on the hard work, but also on the genetics. He has a good reaction time. It works in the blink of an eye, does not reflect, does not analyse, but makes the right decisions'."