Napoli are keen on a deal for Brighton and Hove Albion defender Leo Østigard, with his contract on the south coast set to expire next summer.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who cover the potential effort from the Italian side to sign Østigard this summer.
The centre-back has spent the second half of this past season on loan with Genoa, having cut short a spell with Stoke City to make the move to Italy.
He proved to be a big hit at the Italian club, and that has led to interest from Napoli, who have been named as suitors over the last few weeks.
It’s been reported that they were keen because Østigard is in the final year of his deal with Brighton, although there was some confusion on the matter.
While reports in Italy insisted he wasn’t in the final year of his deal with the Seagulls, everything official stated that his deal was, in fact, due to expire this summer instead.
That would mean Napoli could sign the Norwegian on a free transfer, but sources have confirmed to Sport Witness that his deal with Brighton does indeed have another year left to run.
According to their information, Østigard and his agents ‘immediately opened up’ to the offer made by the Serie A side, which was a a five-year deal that will start from about one million net salaries to rise over the years to almost 1.5.
Negotiations with Brighton are not proving to be as easy, though, as the Premier League side want €6m plus bonuses, and Napoli have only offered €4m + €1m so far.
There is, therefore, a €1m difference between the two parties, but Napoli don’t want to go much higher given Østigard’s contract expires next year, a fact Sport Witness have been able to confirm.
Napoli remain keen, though, and want a deal done within the month so the Brighton man can join them on July 8th for preseason, so expect more negotiations in the coming weeks.
