Over the past few days, it seems that all we’re writing about on the Southampton page is the Premier League club’s interest in Manolo Gabbiadini.
The 25-year-old striker would have been long gone from Napoli were it not for Aurelio De Laurentiis’ desire to make €25m from the deal, and that’s what’s holding everything up.
Reports from Italy suggest Southampton are the keenest to sign the Italian striker, with an offer of €18-20m being prepared by the Premier League side, but that doesn’t meet Napoli’s demands.
In fact, the Saints are getting so annoyed at the Italian club’s reluctance to negotiate even a slightly lower price that they’re now threatening them with claims they might start looking elsewhere.
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Southampton have told the Serie A side that if they don’t accept their offer of €16m + €3m in bonuses, they will turn to Real Madrid’s Mariano Diaz instead.
The 23-year-old striker has been used sparingly by Zinedine Zidane this year, mostly in the Copa del Rey where he’s scored four in four appearances, but the talent shown by the forward has caught the eye of a few sides.
Needing someone to replace Charlie Austin and provide Claude Puel with some depth for the remainder of the season, a move for the Dominican Republic international could be a cheaper option for Southampton.
Diaz has scored five goals and assisted his teammates once this season, all of that from 222 minutes of football spread over eight appearances.
Back in December, Spanish journalist Antón Meana was quoted as saying: “[Mariano] said that, unless he gets an offer he wouldn’t be able to turn down, like Arsenal, he will stay and doesn’t want to leave in January.”
Up to Southampton to make him an offer he can’t refuse.
