Earlier on Friday, we covered an ‘exclusive’ from TuttoMercatoWeb claiming that Southampton were the only club to have made a ‘concrete’ offer for Napoli’s Manolo Gabbiadini.
Well, Friday’s edition of Il Mattino seem to back up those claims, but the figure they’re giving is a bit different to what the Italian website reported.
Ever since it was reported that Napoli would be willing to let the 25-year-old forward go, the price tag has been €25m, as Aurelio de Laurentiis, the club’s president, wanted to be respectful to a player who had been loyal to the club even when things weren’t going his way.
That price wasn’t fixed, however, with a few outlets claiming Napoli would be happy to accept a bids nearing €22m.
This, however, doesn’t appear to be the case, as Il Mattino are now saying the Serie A club have one offer on the table from Southampton standing at €22m + bonuses.
Considering the same newspaper reported on the 10th of January that Napoli were looking for a fee ‘upwards of €20m, preferably around €22m’, Southampton have surely met those demands?
No one seems to be able to agree on anything in this transfer, and we’re starting to wonder if any Premier League clubs are actually interested in Gabbiadini at this moment in time.