On Wednesday, Sky Deutschland journalist Florian Plettenberg reported Brighton & Hove Albion have entered the race for Udinese’s Lazar Samardžić.
The midfielder has managed two goals and two assists from 17 games this season and his fine form has convinced Napoli to make an approach this month.
That’s according to TuttoMercatoWeb, who say the Serie A winners will face competition from Brighton.
TMW state the two Italian clubs have already reached an agreement for €20m plus €5m in bonuses. On Tuesday, Napoli had a meeting with the 21-year-old’s camp to try to find a definitive solution.
If the deal goes through, the Germany-born Serbia international will sign a long-term deal with the Naples club, worth €1.8-2m per season. The two parties continue negotiations with confidence, but the player’s final approval is still missing.
This, as per the report, is because of Brighton. It’s explained that in the ‘last few hours’, Roberto De Zerbi’s side would have made an attempt to secure his services and their interest would ‘not have left the midfielder indifferent’.
Samardžić would have asked for time before giving a definitive response to Napoli. TMW add that behind his hesitation, there could be the charm of the Premier League and the ‘rich contractual proposal’.
Brighton have entered the battle for the player and more developments could be expected in the next few hours and days.
