Krzysztof Piatek is ready to ‘conquer’ Milan’s No 9 shirt and believes Marco Giampaolo will get the best out of him.

Piatek was an instant hit for Milan, scoring 11 goals in 19 Serie A games after his €35m move from Genoa in January, and he has now been given their No 9 jersey.

“The No 9 is an important number for a striker,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Krzysztof Piatek is ready to ‘conquer’ Milan’s No 9 shirt and believes Marco Giampaolo will get the best out of him.

Piatek was an instant hit for Milan, scoring 11 goals in 19 Serie A games after his €35m move from Genoa in January, and he has now been given their No 9 jersey.

“The No 9 is an important number for a striker,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“All the best strikers wear it – Lewandowski, Suarez, Benzema, Kane. I’m happy because the club believed in my quality. They told me I’d conquer the shirt, while I said I would’ve fought with all my strength to get it and I did.

“I don’t believe in superstition or this curse. For me, the No 9 is normal. Everything will be fine like with the No 19. It doesn’t scare me.

The Pole was then asked about his ideal strike partner, working with Gennaro Gattuso and how Giampaolo ranked among the Coaches he had played under.

“I’d like to partner Cristiano Ronaldo or Shevchenko. When I arrived in Italy, who would’ve said that I’d score more than CR7…

“But I want to improve and become top scorer. I’ll do everything to succeed. Giampaolo is a maestro of football, I can confirm that.

“I like the 4-3-1-2 because it gives you many attacking solutions. In Italy I’ve already had four Coaches. He’s my fifth, but tactically he’s the best.

“Gattuso is a legend, and he’s also slightly crazy. He’s madly in love with Milan, he took on many responsibilities and got to the end tired and with nothing left to give.”

Finally, the 24-year-old was quizzed on whether Suso had what it took to play behind him in a 4-3-1-2, as well as his relationship with Lucas Paqueta.

“For him I think it’s a bit more difficult. Suso is a winger so, for him to play behind the strikers, it’ll be necessary to do specific work.

“However, he has all the qualities to do well. Paqueta knows how I like to receive the ball, when to give it to my feet and when to play it long.

“We understand each other. That’s important.”

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