Earlier on Monday, we relayed more mixed information from Il Mattino regarding the future of Manolo Gabbiadini at Napoli, with Stoke thrown into the mix with an €18m bid.
This offer was said to be ‘slightly lower’ than Southampton’s, reported to be €22m + bonuses on Friday by the same newspaper.
However, no agreement has been reached, with Napoli apparently still standing firm with their demands of €25m for the Italian striker, which is holding everything up.
It seems that Aurelio De Laurentiis’ stubbornness is even starting to grate the player’s agent, Silvio Pagliari, who told Radio CRC, relayed by Calciomercato.it, as saying: “If the demands aren’t lowered to €16-18m, we risk everything going off the boil”.
Previous reports suggested that Napoli would be prepared to accept around €22m for their striker, yet that’s what Southampton were reported to have paid, and still no deal.
If the Pagliari is having to come out and ask the club to lower their demands, the interest has to be there, but with Stoke recently buying Saido Berahino, perhaps it’s only Southampton left.
And if he’s asking for €16-18m, that’s probably all Claude Puel is willing to spend on the player.
