Leander Dendoncker didn’t want to leave Aston Villa a month ago but was convinced to join Napoli by manager Walter Mazzarri.
That’s according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, relayed by Napoli Magazine, who has provided the details behind the surprise move as it is close to being finalised.
Dendoncker is on the verge of joining the Italian champions on a loan deal until the end of the season after they made a surprise move for him earlier this week.
Napoli have been on the hunt for a new midfielder throughout this month after president Aurelio de Laurentiis publicly admitted mistakes had been made and promised the fans signing to strengthen the squad and recover in the second half of the season.
They had been linked to various names but appear to have settled on Dendoncker, moving quickly for the Aston Villa man and securing his signature in a quick-fire deal.
He’s now in Italy finalising that move until the end of the season and Tavolieri has provided details on what happened behind the scenes, insisting a move away from Aston Villa was not on the cards originally.
“Leander Dendoncker arrives at Napoli on loan with the right to buy,” he said.
“Napoli get a physical player who has also done well at level of human maturation: he can still grow in the way he plays, initially a month ago he didn’t want to leave Aston Villa and the Premier League.
“He was convinced by Napoli’s project and by the discussions Walter Mazzarri had with him, that he convinced that Naples could be the right idea to recover also from a European perspective.”
