After Arsenal signed Bernd Leno last summer, they allowed David Ospina to join Napoli on a season-long loan deal in the same window.
As a part of the deal, it’s mandatory for the Serie A outfit had to make the goalkeeper’s loan move permanent if he makes 25 appearances this campaign.
So far, he’s made 17 appearances out of which only three of them came in 2019 and the Colombia international admitted that his lack of playing time is down to the clause in the deal.
“My current situation is that I am on loan for this season and there is a clause based on a certain number of games, where if I play, the transfer will become an automatic purchase,” Ospina told Blu Radio, as quoted by the Colombian edition of Marca.
“When the situation does not depend on me, all I can do is wait for the decision to be made, which in this case is from Napoli. The club had just made a great purchase with [Alex] Meret, who is a young goalkeeper with a great future, so I knew that when he came, this might happen.”
A day after Ospina made those comments, Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed the South American will continue with the Italian club, irrespective of whether he makes the desired number of appearances or not.
“He will remain [at Napoli] next year, regardless of the matches that he will do or not [this season],” Ancelotti was reported as saying by Tutto Mercato Web.
Napoli will have to pay €4m to the Premier League outfit in order to sign Ospina in the summer.
