While it was Il Mattino kicking off the rumours that Napoli were after Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gazzetta dello Sport seem to be the ones who have taken over, providing the most detailed updates, or at least attempting to.
On Saturday, we explained that while their corroboration of their local counterpart’s original story suggested it had legs, the contradiction between the two in a key area was rather strange.
Il Mattino, in their take, explained that while Pep Guardiola didn’t have a slot in his squad this season for the young Ukrainian, he still counted on him in the future, hence the preference for a loan.
Gazzetta, down their end, reported the Spaniard’s inability to fit the 20-year-old in his plans suggested he didn’t have a future at the Etihad, and there was a chance Zinchenko could push for a sale.
They state that while a deal is still far from being done, Zinchencko’s decision to reject other offers to focus on Napoli proves his desire to play there, and now a paid loan with a €5-6m compulsory clause is what’s being worked on.
Considering Manchester City only bought the Ukraine international July of last year for just under £2m, a £3m profit in just over 12 months isn’t the worst return, especially since he’s never played a competitive game for them.
However, considering the talent the attacking midfielder has, you would have expected Pep Guardiola to want to keep him around for the future, especially since the Spanish manager seems intent on collecting attacking midfielders like a 90’s kid would with Pokémon cards.
We’ll have to see what happens, but that €5-6m price tag seems a bit low, even if the Citizens were to get, let’s say, €2m up front for the loan too.
