Currently in Colombia for family reasons, David Ospina will not be returning to Napoli after the club granted him an extended leave beyond the end of the campaign.
This is what Il Mattino are reporting on Thursday morning, meaning the Arsenal loanee will not get a chance to play in the last two games to take his number of appearances to 25 and therefore won’t trigger the automatic release clause in his deal that would see him stay in the south of Italy permanently.
However, the Serie A club don’t intend to let that stand in their way, as it’s been decided the Colombia international will be remaining at San Paolo Stadium next season regardless.
The Italian newspaper explain that Napoli, who paid an original €500k for the loan and were expected to fork out €3.5m after 25 appearances, will sit down with Arsenal to negotiate another deal.
It’s pointed out the Gunners aren’t interested in keeping Ospina around next season, meaning a permanent exit this summer is their desire, and Aurelio de Laurentiis is willing to help them achieve that.
Il Mattino believe Napoli will want to lower the price to around €2m, but the meeting between the two clubs has yet to take place, so there’s no way of knowing how Arsenal will react to that offer.
Alex Meret is expected to remain as the starter next season, with Ospina playing rotation with the young goalkeeper, but he knows, especially after how things have gone this season, he’ll get far more time in Naples than he would returning to the Emirates.
That, and he really like the south of Italy.
