What looked like a great deal early on in the year has seemingly turned into a bit of a catastrophe over in Naples.
Tiemoué Bakayoko, who wasn’t part of Frank Lampard’s plans at the start of the campaign, was sent to Napoli on loan late on in the window with no option to buy.
Quickly, and after a few good early performances, talk of a gentleman’s agreement between the two clubs started to appear, with a fee of €18m being mentioned.
Since then, however, the player’s form has somewhat dipped, and talk of him remaining in the south of Italy hasn’t reappeared all that much.
Il Roma, relayed by CalcioNapoli24, do that on Thursday, though, explaining that Chelsea ‘have asked for €18m’ in order for Napoli to make the move permanent.
It’s said that’s a figure Aurelio De Laurentiis ‘will never accept’, and while the two clubs could ‘sit at a table and discuss’ another figure, the problem of what Bakayoko wants remains.
The Frenchman reportedly ‘absolutely wants to be an integral part of the project’, but ‘if he has to stay at watch Demme play, he will go elsewhere to finally find some peace’.
