Reports: Juventus won’t pick up the buy option on Arek Milik

For the first few months of Arek Milik’s adventure at Juventus, he was playing like somebody who made complete sense to keep behind the 2022-23 season. The decision to pick up his buy option seemed to be a complete lock, with his goal production very much matching the guy who he was brought in to be the backup to, Dusan Vlahovic. Milik was playing so well that you might have even wondered what the heck Marseille were thinking.

Now?

Well, things seem to have changed.

According to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Fabrizio Romano, Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira and others, the possibility of Juventus picking up the option to make Milik’s deal permanent doesn’t look all that likely — at all. So much so that Juve have already informed Marseille that they won’t pick up Milik’s €7 million and he will return to France.

It’s to the point now where Milik is already being rumored to head elsewhere as Marseille want to sell him on a permanent basis, with Lazio — and his former manager Maurizio Sarri — reportedly interested in the Polish international.

For a cash-strapped club, Milik appeared to be a sensible low-cost option that was actually producing goals and quality performances for the first half of the season. He quickly earned Max Allegri’s trust, starting more games than probably anybody on the outside looking in expected him to right off the bat.

But after the World Cup break, that good form couldn’t be replicated.

From January until the end of the season, Milik scored just three goals and recorded one assist — that, for the record, is a span of 22 games — while also dealing with a muscle injury that kept him out for nearly a month and a half. For a team that was already offensively challenged, that was not the greatest development as Vlahovic also struggled for large stretches of the new year.

In total, Milik finished with seven goals in 27 league appearances. He also scored a pair of Champions League goals.