The Italian media are insistent Billy Gilmour is now close to signing for Napoli, as they start to get more realistic about the price.
Initially, reports in Italy had suggested Napoli could pay Brighton €10m, and then there was confidence at €12m, but regarding both price points we made it clear the Italian club’s local media appeared to be acting overly optimistic.
There was no reason for Brighton to sell Gilmour at vastly below his market value and therefore a rise would be needed.
Sunday’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport says the transfer is ‘almost done’ and they report a price of €15m. It would be no surprise if bonuses are added to this and that would represent a much more realistic amount.
This week he spoke about how everything at Napoli is worse than he expected and there’s been no nice surprises. An inevitable blow-out with club president Aurelio De Laurentiis will happen at some point in the future, yet with everyone trying to avert disaster it’s likely the manager will get some of the signings he wants.
That should allow Brighton to get the deal they want.
